The Beginning
by Unknown2Any1
Summary: Naruto/OC, eventual Naruto/OC/Sasuke. When Blondie then looked my way, my breathe hitched, as I saw the bluest eyes that I ever laid eyes on and I have seen the ocean...
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**The Beginning**

Prologue

That night was a dark and cloudy night. I remember it like it happened yesterday, but it was

almost a decade ago. I was almost 4; my birthday was a week away. I was heading home, jumping on

rooftops, enjoying the cool breeze of the mid-autumn weather. It was almost supper time and the clock

on the tower in the middle of the village confirmed it. As the clock struck 5 pm, the bell rang out

throughout the village. Smiling widely, I picked up the pace and rushed, because I love the race of the

count of 5. I always ran, jumped and enjoyed it to the last ring, by then I'm the back door of my house

before it ends, and tonight was no different. Hand on the door knob, I turned it and stepped thru the

threshold of my house. Slam! It goes. The kitchen however was eerily quiet and deserted, which in itself

was strange. Supper was steaming on the oven and ready to be served on the table that is already set

with plates and utensils. Neither sound nor movement could be heard and it started to unnerve me.

Something was seriously wrong here, I could literally feel it. I walked pass the table, thru the kitchen,

into the living room. Everything just felt….off. My dad chair is unoccupied. He always sits in front of the

TV in his chair until I tell him that supper is ready. As I came closer, I felt for the warmth that might be

there but all I felt was the cold leather, as if nobody has sat in it at all. This was starting to freak me out. I

know my parents schedule like the back of my hand, hell I even know our maids schedule. Our maid

finishes by 3:30 pm because everything is done by then and my mom loves to cook, so she prepares the

meals. She can make anything and everything, and it all tastes delicious. My dad is home by 4 pm and

lounges in the living room in front of the TV without moving until it's time for supper. So as I said, it

freaked me out that my parents are not where they usually are. So I took a deep breath and walked past

the living room to the rest of the house but nothing in the dining room, patio or game room. My room is

off limits, so the only place would be my parent's room. As I got close, the door was slightly ajar, and I

can see lights shining thru the opening. 'Well, they must be talking' I thought to myself as I went to the

door and knocked lightly. I waited…and waited…and waited some more. I heard no movement or sound;

I mean people usually make a sound if they are moving, so shouldn't there be someone in there doing something?

With my hand on the door knob, I pushed it open and was shocked to my core at the image in

front of me. My mom and dad, dead in their own pool of blood, dad on his back with multiple stab

wounds on his chest, I cannot count how many there is, there is so much blood. Mom, dear mom, also

on her back but her neck is twisted in a gruesome angle so her head is faced down. I felt numb, my body

felt numb, my eyes glue to their bloody bodies. Somehow, someway I went to the phone, which is

located in the kitchen and I have no idea how that happen I didn't feel my feet move. I couldn't hear my

own voice but I know I call someone. I stood there in the kitchen with the phone still in my hand when

the authorities arrived. I guess I call them. It all became a blur as questions were asked; my parent's

room became a crime scene, their bodies moved by the coroner and then our maid showed up. She

screamed and cried and held me saying everything will be ok.

That night she became my guardian. That night, a week before my birthday, I was going to be 4. That

gruesome night my parents were murdered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I so don't own anything except my orginal character

**Warning:** Foul language and so on..

Chapter 1

Have you ever walked into a room where everyone looked at you like you had something on

your face? Well that's how it was like on my first day of class in a new place. I got to this village

yesterday and enrolled this morning, so here I am in front of the class with the teacher introducing me

as the new student and will be joining them for the rest of the term.

The academy I enrolled in is a Ninja Academy, one out of two in the nation. It was either here in

the woodsy scenery or in the other one where there's sand EVERYWHERE; in the desert of the Sand

Village. Needless to say I prefer the woodland then the sand traps. Anyways I heard good things about

this academy, some of the greatest Shinobi (ninja) are from this place. The name of this place is called

the Village Hidden in the Leaves and literally it is hidden in the leaves. Besides that, it's also called

Konoha. I rather call it that then the long version.

Anyhow I should describe myself: I have very short auburn hair with baby blue-ish streaks here

and there, short even for a girl, mostly in the back and a little longer bang just over my left eye. Eyes are

a mean shade of Violet, and believe me; I've looked around for people with the same shade and color,

and pierced ears with various studs and rings. Don't know if this is weird or not BUT I have fangs, like

vampire fangs but mind you, I ain't no vampire. I may have the fangs but my skins tone is darker than

what is consider the right color of a vamp, which is lighter and paler. What can I say, I love the sun. My

height comes to 5ft something and I work out…A lot! Now to describe my clothing, besides the fact

that it is expensive and custom made, well my jacket is. You know how most girls' clothing line and

fashion consist of dresses, skirts, flowers and/or Pink. Ugh, I despise pink. Anyways back to the subject; I

wear ninja issued boots that are mid-calf and black, midnight blue khaki cut-offs with pockets

everywhere for anything and a dark grey sleeveless shirt. My jacket, my beautiful black leather jacket

that reaches down to my knees and has dark blue flames at the bottom hem, has many pockets seen

and unseen. The accessories I wear is a necklace with the letter 'R' on a black cord, arm bands on my

wrists (one of which has spikes), Silver, white, black and mood rings on my fingers. I'm either

categorized as Goth or emo, I don't know, but I don't really care, because I look good.

I know I'm different, kind of hard not to know that, knew that I was different my whole life since

the day I was born, because I wasn't like most normal babies. I'm not saying everyone is different, some

are, and just NOT everyone is born with a tail. Yes I said it, a TAIL! A dark brown furry tail, I sometimes

hides it by wrapping it around my waist to make it look like a cool belt, other times I just let it hang loose

behind me. Surprise quite a few people with it. I like to show it then keep it a secret but it does give an

element of surprise when I'm up against enemies or jerks. Well I guess we'll see what happens in this

class when I reveal it.

My new teacher/sensei finished addressing the class about my newness and now I must tell "a

little bit about myself", well here is goes…..

"Hmmm…. umm… good morning everybody, uh…kind of nervous here so I'll just start with the

basics here: My name is Roxanne, I'm from a small village very, very far from here. I just got here to the

village last night and enrolled this morning with the Hokage" with that I smiled to add a little effect.

Wide eyes and whispering all around, just what I was expecting, even the teacher seemed

unnerved by my little display of teeth (lol).

"Um… ok (fidgets) so tell us a bit about yourself. Like what are your likes, dislikes, personality,

dreams and whatever else you'd like to share" he says to me while he sits on the edge of his desk.

"Sure, why not. My likes are training and fighting." I noticed some heads and ears perked up as I

mention this. "What can I say except I LOVE to train and fight, must be in my blood or something. I have

a lot of energy and training helps to release that energy. I like to cook also; well technically I like to eat

but cooking makes that better. Reading is what I like to do when I want to unwind and relax. If I get a

chance to visit a library, I would read every single book and scroll in the facility. I also like to travel, A

LOT! I've been traveling for as long as I can remember, going from village to village, and meeting new

and interesting peoples, checking out the scenery and culture and just plain learning anything. Music; is

my life, I just love listening to whatever is available wherever I am, especially when I'm training. The

beat and rhythm goes great with exercising but the flow of it also helps with relaxing tense muscles.

Whatever, I Love Music!

Now my dislikes, which I will make it perfectly, clear so there is No Misunderstanding; I Hate and

I mean Exclusively, despise stuck up, spoiled, self-centered, ill minded, hypercritical, snobbish, little

insignificant bastards or bitches. People like that are just not worth talking to, and excuse my language

but that's how I feel. As for my personality; I'm an easy going, carefree kind of person unless you piss me

off then that's a whole different story. I learn quickly since knowledge is my forte, and the least of my

bad habits is swearing, so don't mind me if I put a little 'F's and 'S's in my sentences. My goal or dreams

in life is to learn all that I can, get stronger then I am now and maybe help those in need along the way.

Oh! I almost forgot the most important thing I like to share with you all" With that I turned

sideways so it shows one side of me and put my hands up above my head. Good thing my jacket is long

and wide because I can easily unravel my tail without being exposed. With my hands up, my jacket

slowly rises up and over my arms, I turn back facing them, then with a flick of my tail, my jacket is

thrown on the teacher's desk. Calmly swishing back and forth behind me, I held my hand out to it and

presented it: "This, boys and girls, is my tail. Tail, this is everybody" My tail waved a little hello to them

and the classroom is eerily quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Wow.

Like cartoon characters with their eyes popped out of their heads and their jaws slamming down

on the ground, made me smirked evilly. Even the teacher's eyes were the most biggest, probably never

even expected something like this to happen in his life. I waited a couple minutes until their eyes went

back to their heads and the teacher cleared his throat. "Yes I have a tail. I guess it makes me different,

but so what? I don't care what you or anybody else thinks of me. This tail is what makes me, me and I

wouldn't change it for all the money in the world" Arms crossed over my chest, I stood my ground and

wrapped my tail back around my waist. The teacher getting his composure back stood up and laid a

hand on my shoulder. "Well that's great that you stand up for what you believe in and I admit that I find

it unusual that you have a tail but I must say, it suit you." Looking up at him, I smiled "Thanks teach. I

keep it wrapped around my waist most of the time, so it's hardly noticeable" Shrugging at this, the

teacher smiled and went around his desk to the blackboard. "Call me Iruka-sensei, everyone does. So

why don't you find an empty seat and we'll get started on today's lesson" Grabbing the chalk, he started

writing today's lesson plan on the blackboard.

I turned towards the desk and snatched my jacket off of it, putting it back on and face towards

the class, whom are eyeballing me. Looking around the vast classroom, I saw some empty seats

here and there and made me wonder where I should sit. The angle of the classroom is different than

what I have seen in any other schools or academy, because the ground floor is not leveled but slope

upwards so that all the desks and peoples in the desks can see the front easily. I just guessing here but I

think it's that way so the teacher can have a good view of the students if they try to misbehave and

make my job easier to find a seat to choose from. Looking more closely now at the students, most of

them were either fidgeting or whispering among themselves.

Do I look intimidating to them?

Anyways to decide where to sit, I glanced at the person sitting next to an empty seat, and let me tell you: they all

look nervous on whether or not I'll be seated next to them. All of them look nervous…except for this

blond guy, he looked more bored then nervous. When Blondie then looked my way, my breathe hitched,

as I saw the bluest eyes that I ever laid eyes on and I have seen the ocean and I'll say this: the ocean

doesn't have anything on him. Keeping our eyes locked, I smiled as I walked up the steps and stopping at

his level, I walked around his seat and sat down.

With a smile, I thrust my hand out to him, "Hi, name's Roxanne. What's yours?" He looked surprised that I sat down next to him and introduced myself.

A smile of his own, he took my offered hand and shook it "Naruto, Naruto Uzamaki. Please to meet you".

Damn, that smile could blind a person if looked at directly. "Pleasures all mine, Naruto Uzamaki" Still

smiling and keeping eye contact, we let go of each other's hand and at the same time we turned

towards the front to pay attention to the teacher as he spoke. "Alright class, we'll begin today's lesson

by copying down what I have written on the board. After that, we will review a little bit on chakra

control, since I know some of you don't really understand it, maybe on ninjutsu and genjutsu too". Hmm

I thought to myself as I wonder what I'll have for lunch today, maybe I'll even ask Naruto to join me if

he'd like.

Needless to say, lunch came pretty quick, but before the bell rang, I noticed a guy with a

funny looking ponytail, a couple rows up, with his head down on his arms and snoring. By the looks of it,

he's been asleep for a while now. As I was turning back to the front, I saw a guy on the same row as me

and Naruto, looking right at me. He's is very pale looking person, and had this small smirk on his face,

very unnoticeable to most, looking at me. Before I could ask him 'what the hell he was looking at', the

bell rang.

I looked away and turned to Naruto, whom was about to get up, so I grabbed his arm. "Hey,

do you know anywhere we can get a good lunch around here?" I casually asked him. He looked a bit

taken back with my question, probably thought I didn't ask such a question, so I repeated the question.

"Oh, well I know this great ramen stand and it is famous in the entire nation, you know?" Both standing

up, I linked my arms with his. "Is that right? Well why don't you show me where it is and we will have

lunch together, what do you say?" No response from him but I did see his cheeks turning a bit pink. As

we walked out of the classroom together, all the students in class stood there shocked at the sight of us

walking out, arms linked.

At first, we walked in silence, due to the fact that there was still pinkness on Naruto's cheeks,

from being surprised, embarrassed or shy, I don't know which but he did loosen up after a few minutes.

I thought it be best if started a little small talk while he lead the way to this ramen stand. "Naruto, tell

me something, what do the kids do for fun around here? I mean, is there like a theater around here or a

coffee shop; Or what do YOU like to do for fun?" He glanced at me a bit then stared straight ahead,

thinking about my question. "Well some of the kids at the academy do all sorts of stuff: some work at

their parents' shops, some go cloud gazing on a nice grassy hillside, some hangout at the training

grounds and do some exercise, others help out after school with the teachers, you know volunteer their

free time. I don't know what they do there though." Good enough but that still didn't answer my last

question. "Ok then, but what do YOU like to do for fun, Naruto?" I stare at him, waiting for his answer.

"Oh ok well…personally I prefer to train, in the forest around the village. Usually work on what needs to

be worked on, you knows? Like my chakra control or what we learned in class. That kind of stuff,

sometimes when I feel restless and want to get a good laugh, I do a couple funny pranks on people or

the teachers, or once in a good while, I pull one on the old man Hokage. One time, I snuck into his office

and stole his book, his favorite book. You know one of those dirty novels that older people like to read?"

I nodded "Well I snatched it out of his desk drawer and ran like hell to hide somewhere, and I thought to

myself that he might not notice it was gone until later. Boy was I wrong. A few minutes later, I could

hear someone yelling my name from a long distance away, and next thing I knew, I was being chased all

over the village by the old man. Who knew an old man could run so fast? Well he caught me and

whacked my upside the head with the book. He had this crazy look in his eye when he told me to Never

and I mean Never, to do that again. I mean the look he gave me when he said this, is the same look a cat

would give a mouse before he is about to eat it. So from then on, if I wanted to keep my skin intact, I

never tried to steal his dirty novel again" He said with a laugh and a shiver. I giggled with him because I

could really picture it in my mind, the crazed look on the hokage's face. "Ha that's funny. It's good to

know you have a sense of humor and playfulness to you; I would enjoy a good prank now and then. So if

you'd ever need a partner in these little exploits of yours, then count me in. It'll be a good laugh" I said

smiling at him. Once again he blushed, gave a small smile and nodded.

When we reached the ramen stand, I realized it really was a stand, with a kitchen in the back and a

counter separating it from us. There were stools to sit on lined up against the counter and an old man

yelled his greetings. Naruto yelled back a greeting and introduced me as a newcomer and a first timer

for ramen. The old man smiled at me and nudged Naruto on his arm in a hinting kind of way, in which

Naruto once again blushed but this time full on blush. I smiled and chuckled at this obviousness.

As we sat down, Naruto suggested his favorite would be the first thing to try, I agreed. While the old

man got busy cooking our order, Naruto started telling me about the first time he tried ramen. It

happened to be what we ordered, which is called Miso Pork, and since that day many years ago, ramen

became his favorite. I asked him how long our lunch hour was and he replied back that it was at least an

hour and a half. So I suggested that if it's that long then we should at least try a couple different bowls

of ramen.

He hesitated. "I don't know, I don't think I have enough money for a couple more bowls".

"Hey, don't worry about it, it's only fair since you showed me where it is, that I pay for a couple more

bowls" He persisted, so I insisted more until finally he gave in. Cheers!

Four bowls each later; we said our goodbyes to the old man cook and headed back to the

academy, talking a bit about ourselves and I found out that we have quite a few in common. Like how

we both didn't have parents growing up and have been on our own for as long as we can remember,

also how we both like to train and fight that can last hours until we're exhausted but could still make it

back to our own beds. Naruto has a great sense of humor and tells me about all the pranks he did when

he was younger, all of which were funny as hell. Then I found out that we both don't have much or any

friends, at all. For me, I know it's because of my tail and are afraid of me that I might be a demon in

disguise, people don't bother to give me a chance to get to know me as me. Sad ain't it?

As for Naruto, he doesn't know why they don't want to hang out with him or even talk to him, like he's diseased or

something. Sometimes the villagers stare at him and call him names, most people would just walk away

when he shows up anywhere. This is sadder. I told him how the people back in my old village did those

same things to me when I was younger but an incident happen and that resulted in them accepting me. I

didn't go into detail because I would rather keep this part to myself but Naruto kept insisting that I tell

all. Shaking my head I told him no but when the time is right, he'll know all, so until then for him to drop

the subject, in which he did so with a smile.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:**I so don't own anything...except my original character with a name

**Warning:**Course Language and whatnots

Chapter 3

As we neared the entrance of the academy, I noticed that there are a couple girls hanging out by

the steps and it looks like they are waiting for something…or someone. Naruto looking in my line of

vision, he saw what I saw and a big wide grin appeared on his face, and then waved at one of them.

"Sakura, How are you today? Had a good lunch?" He exclaimed at her when we got closer.

Stopping a good 3 feet from them, I wanted to laugh because who in the wide world would walk around with

bubble gum PINK hair, and who would hang out with said hair but a platinum blonde and I'll tell you

something: It completely and utterly clashes with one another. 2 more girls were behind them but they

looked normal enough so I settled for smiling at them. Until they open their mouths: "Can it Naruto!

You, New Girl (She points at me), we got a bone to pick with you" Pinky says while putting her hand on

her hip and the other girls gave me this funny look.

Not one to back down, I stepped closer: "Alright, pick a bone" Naruto stood one step behind me with a confused

expression on his face. "I don't know who you think you are! Just because you are new here, doesn't mean you can

steal Sasuke from us, when we worked hard to get his attention. Stay away from him, you got that?" Satisfied with

their clarification on the subject of a sauce guy, ha! All of them crossed their arms over their chest and had

the decency to look smug about sauce.

I, being unaffected by Pinky's statement and their 'better-then-thou' appearance, just said the one thing that popped

in my mind: "Who the Fuck is Sasuke? And why would I go near someone whom I don't know or met?"

saying this with a bored expression and tone.

All the girls were dumbfounded by my insult about a guy that they clearly are gaga over, and probably

thought I'd be too. Wrong. Naruto, though standing behind me, I knew has a big smile on his face,

looking between the girls and I. The girls stood still for a good minute, trying to figure out if I was serious

or not.

Smirking back at them is when Pinky got her bearings back and glared at me. "What do you mean

'who is he?' Everyone knows who he is. He is the most gorgeous guy ever to walk the planet, he is so

cute, so mysterious, his voice can melt any girl to a puddle of goo, and he's the top student in class and

in the whole academy. He is the last member of his clan, who were the richest and powerful family in

the whole village. That's who Sasuke is" Pinky finished with dreamy looks in her eyes, along with the

other girls and sigh lovingly.

I wanted to gag, but settled for scoffing. "Yea, ok but that doesn't explain

what he looks like and where he sits so I'd know not to go anywhere near him" 'and catch some

unknown contagious disease' I said under my breath so I can go unheard but a small chuckle behind me

tells me that Naruto heard it, I smiled at him.

"What do YOU mean 'what he looks like?' You know what he looks like; you sat right next to him all morning.

The guy dressed in blue that sat on your left, the one with the dark hair. That's Sasuke!" Screeching at me like a

banshee, but what she said dawned on me and I knew who the fuck she was talking about.

"Oh….you means the pale faced emo guy with the crooked smile? Ok I know who you're talking about"

This time Naruto couldn't hold in his chuckling that turned into a full blown laughter that was music to my ears.

He doubled over, holding his stomach because he was laughing so hard.

"Oh. My. God! Never have I ever heard those words combined with

Sasuke's name in the same sentence before and it is hilarious! Good going Roxanne!" Still laughing his

ass off, I smiled in amusement at his antics. The girls though, were not the least bit amused, and if looks

could kill then Naruto would be nothing but a bloody pulp right about now. "Shut up Naruto! It's NOT

funny!" Blondie and Pinky yelled in unison at Naruto, whom is literally crying from laughing so hard.

Pinky took a step forward, raised her right fist: "We said it's NOT funny, you moron!"

Then before knuckles met face, I caught it, inches from the face. Silence loomed over as shock into the group.

"How did you move that fast?" Pinky asked, taking a step back and taking her hand with her as well. "Never

mind that, I'll make a deal with you girls: something that will benefit all of us. What do you say?"

Crossing my arms over my chest I waited for an answer. "Go on, we're listening"

"Where do you girls (pointing at Blondie and Pinky) sit? Behind us, right? (They nodded) So I'm

thinking: Naruto and I switch seats with you two, you coordinate who sits where BUT only on One

condition, All of you Never Ever tease or call Naruto names (at this Naruto look at me in surprise) or try

to smack him ever again. In agreement to this, the seats are all yours, so: Do we have a deal or should

we just walk in and pretend we didn't have this conversation?" Hands on my hips, I gave them a straight

look. The girls then huddled together and started discussing it among themselves.

Then Naruto nudged me and when I looked at him, he had this question in his blue eyes, so I whispered to him:

"This way I can always sit with you and never have to sit next to that dude that they are gaga over. Ain't it great?"

Naruto thought about it for a second and then a huge smile formed on his face. "You really want to

always sit with me?" "Well Yea! Of course I do, you're my friend" Shuffling his blonde hair and that cute

blush appeared. A throat being cleared can be heard, so I dropped my hand and turn to the girls.

"Well?" "We agree to your terms and you got yourself a deal" Pinky held out her hand and I took it.

"Great…but remember that it's not my fault if the guy decides to sit wherever we sit, so you better be

quick about it, ok?" "That's ok with us" We shook on it. Letting go, I gestured with my hands towards

the entrance. "Lead the way, ladies. I think it's best, so that way if he is there then you can take the

seats first without rousing suspicions" They agreed and filed in first, and we followed a little ways

behind.

The hallway seems long to go to our class and then finally, when we got there, they went in. I

stopped a few feet from the door and grabbed Naruto's hand to stop him also. He looked at me with an

expression that clearly said 'what?' I put my hand up in a signal to wait and so we did. Didn't have to

wait long for the commotion to signal us that it's time to walk in, ha! I smiled and walked in with Naruto

by my side.

When we walked in, the commotion got louder as the girls argued over the seating

arrangements and got into each other faces. Standing at the base of the steps, we watched the bickering

the girls were doing. Glancing at the dark haired guy and he looked bored at the girls in their quarrelling

over the one seat, so he turned his head back to the front and in doing so, he saw me looking. Keeping

eye contact for a few seconds, the right side of his lips turned upwards in a smirk. 'Getting cocky aren't

you' I thought, smirking back.

Closing my eyes and shaking my head, I turned to Naruto whom smiled at me. "Well, shall we?"

He nodded and I started up the steps. Walking pass the group of girls, we reached

the 2nd landing and sat down on the first 2 seats, me in the middle. I checked of the guy still had the

smirk on his face and Nope, it is wiped clean and in its place a disappointed pout. Then in changed back

into that smirk. Right then I saw what he was smirking about: an empty seat next to mine. Well that's

just NOT going to happen. I leaned forward over my desk and reached out, grabbing Pinky towards me.

The argument stopped momentarily and Pinky looked startled but we didn't have time for that.

Whispering close to her ear, so I won't be heard: "Get someone to sit beside me quick before he does

because this deal will be pointless if that happens" She saw the guy getting up and a flash of

determination came across her facial features. I let go and she turned to a brown haired girl and nodded

to the seat next to mine. The girl nodded back and jumped swiftly over our desk and down on the chair

before the guy even knew what happen. Seeing the chair occupied, the guy frowned at the brown haired

girl, whom smiled sickly sweet at him. He turned back and sat back down on his seat in defeat. Taking a

small glimpse at me, I noticed he looked sour and is that a pout on his lips? The girls nearby that saw

this, squealed in delight, very loudly I might add and I had to cover my ears before some damage

occurred.

After the ear wrenching squeals died down, I removed my hands and smile at Naruto, whom

also covered his ears. When that happen the girls started up their argument on who gets to sit closest to

the guy and What the Fuck is his Name? I mean, yeah, I heard Pinky said it a couple times when we were

outside but I can't remember. I know it has to do with some kind of sauce. Maybe sauce key or sauce kai

or sauce something. Hmm I'll just call him Sauce-Guy for now until his real name sticks to my brain.

Anyways, the teacher came in and the girls stopped their bickering long enough for two girls to sit in our

former seats. The remaining girls groaned in disappointment and went to take the other seat available

around the class. I smiled at this and proceeded to listen to the teacher talk about something or other.

Vaguely listening to the lecture of the teacher, I started to wonder what to do today.

The Hokage popped in my mind. I need to see him as soon as I get out of class and make sure he's got a

place ready for me. Can you believe it? My own place! NOT some group home or orphanage. It has

been awhile since I got my own place. Usually I stay in a hotel until they figure out it's just me and only

me. That's when a clone and transformation jutsu comes in handy, but only for a bit, until I can get

supplies. The rest of the time I prefer staying in the forest, where it's quiet and I can watch the forest

come alive with the animals scattering about and the night time animals wondering about in search of

an easy meal. It's all great and everything but…to have my own place. It's just AWESOME! Maybe I

should ask the old man if I can get a part time job, just to have a little cash on me. Don't get me wrong,

I'm well off, but it's only for clothing, groceries and living essentials. Some spare money will go to little

things like snacks, spare knives, and whatnots. Hey! I wonder if Naruto has a job. He is an orphan like me

but I wonder how he gets by. I'll ask him to tag along with me when I go to see the Hokage. It'll be

freaking Awesome if I got to stay in the same building as him. We can walk to and from school every day

together. It'll be just Fucking Sweet if that happen. Yeah, I'll ask him to tag along.

* * *

Ch4

I should really be paying attention to what the teacher is saying, might be important. "…practice.

We'll go out to the back field and try to improve on our target practice suck as aiming, throwing and

concealment. I know some of you need to work on these and today is a nice day to do that. So let's head

out and have some fun." Enthusiastically said by Iruka-sensei, we all got up and walked down the steps

and out the door, following Iruka-sensei towards the back area of the academy. And Wow! Nice training

area they have here. Straight ahead are the targets, all lined up and ready and to the left are wooden

dummies and punching bags, and to my right is a 30 x 30 square foot hard wood floor, which I'm

guessing is for taijutsu practicing.

Iruka-sensei started to split us up in two groups and I stuck with

Naruto, but most of the girls went with the Sauce-Guy in the other group. As we even up into two

groups, Iruka-sensei explained that one group will go first and then the other and that we have to line

up with the targets. Three rounds per person with five kunai (small double bladed knives) and when

both groups are done, the same will happen with shurikans (throwing stars).

Piece of Fucking cake, man!

I have a perfect aim because if I ever want to have a nice dinner, then I can't miss. Ha! I remember when

my aim sucked big time, back when I was really young and couldn't get it right. I got frustrated with it so

I took and break and sat around trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. I gave up thinking about it a

while later and went with my instinct instead. Relaxing my whole body and listened to what my gut was

telling me and it was saying that I would know when to let go when I threw my kunai. So I followed what

it said and Tada! I hit the target. After that I kept it up until it became second nature to throw at a target

and I haven't missed anything yet.

Anyways, the first group went up which includes the Sauce-Guy and his band of groupies, whom

were all cheering for him when they were supposed to be practicing. What a Bunch of Fucking Idiots.

The Sauce-Guy got ready for his throw, concentrating look on his face, five kunai split up in both hands,

across his chest, crouching down a bit and his head lowered. His cheering squad quiet down for him,

everyone else waited silently and bored. I yawned and Naruto fidgeted on our spot. Finally he threw

them and all landed right on the bull's eyes dead on. The girls went crazy, screaming and hugging each

other and praising Sauce-Guy in his spectacular throw and that no one can come close as him.

I scoffed at that statement but only Naruto heard me over the noise of the girls. "Kind of a showoff, isn't he?

Who is he trying to impress here?" He whispered and as if the Sauce-Guy heard, he turned towards us

and had smug smirk gracing his features. I heard a small rumbling coming from Naruto, like he was

growling. Whoa! I thought I was the only one who could growl like that and it sounded good coming

from Naruto.

Growling his annoyance at the Sauce-Guy and it looked like he wanted to tell him off, so I

whispered to him: "Calm down and leave it be, he'll get his in due time, besides I doubt the Sauce-Guy

will hear anything since his fan club is so loud" Naruto nodded but stopped as mind repeated what I said

regarding his name. Naruto burst right out laughing, doubling over and hitting his knee. Students nearby

looked at him in confusion and set their eyes on me, where I just shrugged, and "Must be something I

said" Accepting the answer, they resume what they were doing: waiting for our turn to start.

Straightening himself up, Naruto wiped a single tear away and smiled widely. "So, what do you think of

the name I gave him? Sounds like him right. Speaking of which: What is his name?" I asked in a whisper.

His eyes grew big and then threw his head back and once again laughed out loud. Shaking his head and

covering his eyes, he stated: "Man, That is a once in a lifetime thing to say! I don't think I have met

anyone who doesn't know his name, but seriously now, you really don't know his name?" Giving me a

questionable look, I shrugged. "You know what? I don't care; I'll just call him Sauce-Guy until someone

gets irritated or something and corrects me. Besides, Who Gives a Fuck What his Name is. I mean other

than his groupies" Naruto gave me his biggest smile. "I think that is the best name I've heard so far" I

smiled back.

"Ok next group come up" Iruka-sensei called out. Everybody in our group lined up with our own

target board and got ready. I watched as everyone else started throwing their kunai at the target. Some

hit the target but not the center and most either didn't throw hard enough or threw too hard and it flew

pass the targets. Geez! This display if just fucking pathetic, how in the hell are they to be ready for the

real world if they can't even throw well, Damn!

Looking around I saw Sauce-guy with this smug look of

triumph on his face as he looked at everyone else suck at throwing. His smugness grew bigger when he

eyed Naruto and I looked too. Naruto, I'll admit myself but not out loud, sucked worst then all of them

combined. God Dammit! Everything he's doing is wrong, from his stance, his aim and the way he moves.

Didn't anyone teach him the basics of throwing any weapons?

OH FUCKING SHIT! He had absolutely NO ONE to teach him anything, he grew up alone, just like me,

but I figured things out when I was like 2 or something.

Well, not anymore is he alone. With determination, I walked up to him before he's about to

throw another round. Stopped mid throw and looked at me in confusion. "Want some pointers,

Naruto?" I asked that instead of asking if he wanted help, which sounds like the wrong thing to say.

Naruto nodded and I took a step back and asked him to throw 2, so I can see what is wrong and we'll

start from there. He throws the 2 and just as I thought: all bad, from the flick of his wrist to his aim being

off, as in off the target board. Taking a deep breath and exhaling it, I step next to Naruto when he

finished with the 2 and reached up to his jacket zipper. "First, let's take this off, so you can move more

freely, plus it's really warm out here" Removing his jacket and dropping it behind me on the ground,

Naruto blushed a little bit when I removed my own jacket and dropping it beside his.

My tail unraveled from my waist and hang down, swishing the tip a bit at the freedom it got. Naruto stood facing me,

so with a hand on his shoulder, I turned him towards the target, just slightly so that his left side is out more

than his right side is and that way he is looking at the target at a more side view. I walked around him

until I stood right behind so I face the target the same way Naruto is. Standing closer until my chest was

grazing his back, Naruto tensed up at the contact of our bodies. Snaking a hand around his waist, I

pressed him closer to me and I heard him gulp and could feel his heart rate speed up as his breathing did

also. My lips grazed his ear when I told him to relax and Naruto shivered at the warm breath.

'I'm not going to bite, you know' and he chuckled at this and he relaxed a bit. "Ok I want you to move as I move,

so that way you will learn an easier was to throw any sharp object" I put my hand on his right hand as I

was saying this and then proceeded to move. Twisting slightly to the right side, I turn our arms so it's

behind our backs and then glided both back around and forward. Silence met my ears but paid no

attention to it, as I had to teach a lesson. I repeated the gesture one more time and then did a different

one. This one, our arms went over our heads and swiftly hurled it in front of us and then repeated it. The

last one, I turned him a bit so his right is out instead of his left side. Twisting slightly to the left, our arms

behind us and then shot it forward.

Bringing our hands back to ours sides, I entwined my fingers with his

and set my chin on his shoulder, whispering to his ear: "So you get the general idea, right?" Warm

breath caressed his lope and neck that made him swallows his words and nodded instead. "Good. Now

do what we just did but with the kunai you have left and relax. Let go when your gut tells you to, you

know when that will be. Always listen to what your gut tells you, it'll help when all logic fails" With one

last breath breezed by his neck, Naruto shivered and I remove myself from his back, took a couple steps

back and folded me arms over my chest.

Taking a quick glance at our audience, I noticed a slight glare

from a certain pale faced emo guy, whom I smirked at and turn back to Naruto's performance.

Naruto got his composure back then I backed off and took a deep breath, relaxed his shoulders

and got into position. All three kunai flew to the target one by one in each different poses I showed him

and did so with such grace and swiftness, that made it look like he's been doing this for a long time to

perfect it. Each hitting the target around the bull's eye and utter silence consumed our little class.

Nobody moved, nobody whispered and Naruto, shocked to his core, stayed in the last position of

throwing.

I waited a full 5 seconds before I screamed in triumphed that woke everyone up from their

stupor. "Woooooo! Yea! That's the way to do it!" I hollered before jumping on Naruto's back. Staggering

a bit but stood his ground with the extra weight. Getting over his shock quickly, Naruto jumped around

and whooped out load for his awesome throw. Both of us laughing and I congratulated him on a job well

done and Naruto beamed with pride. Everyone else though still stood standing still, unable to believe

what they just saw or happened. Iruka-sensei smiled and clapping his hands, made his way over to us.

"Wow Naruto that is an amazing throw and you got it close to a bull's eye. I believe that is one of your

best throws that I have ever seen. I think you have Roxanne to thank for that" Ruffling Naruto's hair,

Iruka-sensei stepped back to give us space, in which I hopped off Naruto's back and stood right next to

him, grinning in happiness and my tail swishing back and forth in joy. Looking at me and my tail, Naruto

blushed and looked down at his feet, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand nervously.

"Um…I...I...um...t...thank you Roxanne for showing me. I really appreciate it" Still blushing as he looks up

at me with a shy smile. I couldn't resist so I hugged him, he's just that cute! Naruto gasped at the

contact then hugged me back. Letting go Iruka-sensei called out to the first group to start on shurikans. I

grabbed our fallen jackets with my tail and hand Naruto his as we walked back to our group.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing except my name

**Warning: **Course language and Sasuke-bashing for this part.

Ch 5

When we pass by Iruka-sensei, Naruto stopped and asked Iruka-sensei something that he just remembered. "Hey Iruka-sensei, Roxanne was so busy showing me the right techniques, that she never got a chance to practice herself. Can she it before the first group goes? Please?" He begged him but I on the other hand was stumped. My back facing Naruto and Iruka-sensei, whereas my front faced the crowd and all could be seen is my face shadowed. Tensing up with my eyes shut and saying a pray in my head that I wouldn't go up because I don't really want to show everyone how precise my aim is. I'm hoping against hope that he says no and for us to move right along but I guess no one is listening. "Well, now that you mention it, Naruto, I would love to see how well she does if she can get you to do a great job on the first try. So Roxanne, please come back and give us a little demonstration" Iruka-sensei asks walking to the target and removing the five kunai from the target board and walking back to his spot, holding out the knives for me to take.

"Damn" I silently said under my breath and turn back to the dup standing by with a smile as I said out loud: "Sure. Why not" Handing my jacket to Naruto who looked excited and taking the kunais from Iruka's our stretched hand and when he moved aside, I got ready. Standing sideways, with my left side facing the target, I held 2 knives in one hand and 3 in the other as I wrapped my arms around my back and my tail hanging low to the ground. I stood still, breathing deeply and listening to the quietness of my surroundings, then like a slingshot my arms swung forward fast. In a blink of an eye, I am done and I could see all the five kunais pierced the bull's eye perfectly in the center. Gasps and whispers started up as I straighten up and turned around with a victorious smirk on my face.

As loud as he could Naruto cheered for me, Iruka-sensei smiled and clapped, and everyone else just stood there quietly. The Sauce-Guy and his fan club were wide eyed and open mouth in surprise but then his groupies started whispering among themselves and the dude's expression went back to his normal dull looking one. I could hear praises from most of the crowd but the rest are mumbling about me getting lucky. Lucky! Right! Luck does NOT put dinner on the table every night, only nonstop practicing and hard work gets the job done. I made my way to Naruto who is standing next to the crowd with a smile so bright, it almost hurt my eyes.

"Wow that was Awesome! The way you threw them and how they ALL hit the target dead on is amazing. You are really good at this and you wiped the floor with Sasuke, can't wait for the shurikans to come up so you can do it again. I don't think I know anyone who could hit a target as well as he can but then you show up and did just that. I am so glad I met you, Roxanne. Maybe later on we can train together, if you want. If you ain't busy or you know…" He rambled on. Oh! So cute looking all shy and everything and so I looped my arm with his and he stopped. Naruto saw our connected arms, than at me as I smiled at him is when he blushed and adverted his eyes to his feet, smiling.

Sometimes my tail has a mind of its own and it decided to wrap itself around Naruto's waist, in which I looked down in surprise. 'Well what do you know, eh? It likes him' Naruto's blush deepens and tried to speak but I saved him the trouble: "Yes I would love to train with you; I just hope you can keep up" Naruto looked me in the eyes and nodded. "You know what? I'm so glad I sat next to you this morning and getting to know you later on and believe me when I say this: we will be best friends in no time" Naruto's eyes lit up when I said this and his smile grew bigger. Indeed I made the right decision when I choose to sit next to Naruto this morning on my first day of the academy.

I turned my head to see if the first group was up and throwing but am met with all eyes, except Iruka's, gawking at us as if we were from space or something. Silence once again overcame the crowd, except for the sound of kunais being pulled from the target boards by Iruka-sensei, and I felt this little tingle sensation on the side of my head and looked towards it. The Sauce-Guy is standing there glaring daggers in our direction and looks like he might actually kill someone, but I just smirked at his strange behavior. He could be jealous, but of what I have no idea, could be the attention Naruto's getting or my perfect bull's eyes? I don't know but it did make me feel superior that I am the cause in both events. Before the Sauce-Guy could see my expression, the teacher called out to get the first group to actually start since most were just gawking at us.

The call shook the Sauce-Guy out of his glaring and his face return to his bored, uninterested one. I wonder how much will it take to rile him up out of his normal expression to make a total different one, but time will tell. Is he going to do the same technique as earlier or change it up? Naruto and I watched from our spots as the first group lined up once again with the targets. As Sauce-Guy lined up, his groupies nearby, he held all the five shurikans in one hand and stood there not moving. The fan club looked on anxiously but the rest of us already knew the end result. I could tell Naruto wanted to call out to him and tell him to hurry the fuck up but didn't when we saw Sauce-Guy lower down a bit. The hand holding the shurikans closed in near his torso and the other hand rested on top of it for easy access. Then one by one, the shurikans flew swiftly at the target and with a thud, hit its mark.

Cheering and screaming ensued and groaning and mumbling came next. The girls huddled together complimenting Sauce-Guy on his excellent throw from a few feet from where he's standing. Before Sauce-Guy could turn around, I started walking towards him, and grabbed the shurikans from Iruka-sensei on my way. "Hey Roxanne it isn't your turn yet" He exclaimed out load and got the attention of everyone. I ignored him as I kept walking until I came face to face with the Sauce-Guy and the target he used could be seen to the side of us. I smirked when he looked at me.

"You think you're good?" "No. I'm not good. I'm the best" "Hmm so if you're the best, can you do this?" Not breaking eye contact I threw each star to the target with a speed quicker than lightening and without looking at the target. Sauce-Guy's eyes widen in shock when I didn't look at all. Silence blanketed our surroundings and nobody made a move when I finally looked at the target. I smiled when I could see the exact center of the bull's eye filled with the stars all lined up in perfect order.

I looked back to Sauce-Guy's face and my smile widen when I saw astonishment written all over his features, totally worth it to see a different expression on him. Damn! I wish I had my camera with me today. "**THAT'S** how it's done, son!" snapping my fingers in his face as I walked away. Nobody moved yet, even the teacher stood stunned as I walked by him, looking smug. Naruto woke everybody up with a loud cheer and hands in the air and that is when everyone, even some of the fan girls, rushed over to me and congratulated me on an excellent throw.

Bowing and waving appreciatively at them all I said "Thank you Thank you. I don't know what came over me but I'll be here all week. Tip your waitresses and stay in school" Smiling I weaved my way through the crowd who patted me on the back and laughed but I only had eyes for one person whose face I want to see and whose voice I want to hear. Way in the back of the crowd he stood looking like he didn't belong in the happy crowd. A slight pain flashed through my chest at seeing and feeling this and I so didn't like it at all. So standing close to Naruto I whispered: "Got nothing to say about Sauce-guy's defeat or what?" Smiling he chuckled but before he could say anything, he looked behind me and scowled, so I turned to see what it was.

Sauce-Guy stood behind us, glaring and hands clenched in a tight fist. "You, new girl, what's your problem?" He asked trying to glare a hole in my head. I turn to face him with a smirk on my lips. "I have a name you know and I ain't got no problem. What's yours?" One hand on my hip and Naruto by my side with his arms crossed over his chest, smirking also. "Problem. You know what's my problem is, new girl? It's the fact that someone, let alone a girl, beat me at something I'm excellent at. I'm the top student in this academy and no one and I mean no one beats me" His fan club heartily agreed. "Well you know what. The world does NOT revolve around you, out there in the real world , past those gigantic walls, are people who are Stronger, Faster and highly more skilled then you could ever imagine to be. So don't come crying to me just because you lost at something that should be like second nature to you. I've been out there in the real world for the longest time and there is only one rule, just one: Go hard or go home. There is No second chances, No do overs and I'm sure as Fuck know for a fact that there are no gold stars for doing a good job. As for being 'the top student' you are about to be knocked the Fuck down to # 2. So my suggestion to you is Bring It! Bring whatever you got to the fullest because I will Bring It, anywhere, any time and with whatever you got" Getting nose to nose with Sauce-Guy after my little speech and him glaring at me with fire in his eyes and breathing heavily. Before he could open his mouth to lash right back, Iruka-Sensei showed up and put his hands on our shoulders to separate us.

"Okay enough and settle down, Sasuke and Roxanne. Both of you have perfect aim but I'm sorry to say, Sasuke that Roxanne did a very impressive job on her last throw. Let's forget about this and give the other group a chance to practice, okay?" My eyes lit up at this statement and I looked up at Iruka. "So it's Naruto's turn then?" Iruka nodded but Sauce-Guy scoff at it. "Yeah like that total loser will be lucky enough to hit the target a second time" Crossing his arms over his chest, he smirked at me. "The only 'total loser' here is you Sauce-Guy when I kicked your ass in a simple target practice" I took a step forward when I finished taunting him and his arms fell to his sides, clenched into a fist and glaring at me with all his worth, which did nothing to me. Before he could open his mouth, I turned and grabbed a laughing Naruto, pulling him along to the targets. I left him to his antics as I went forward and grabbed the shurikans off the target boards and went back to Naruto's side as he finally calmed down.

Smiling at him, I hand over the stars and laid both hands on his shoulders. "Naruto, do the same thing as you did earlier with the kunais and you can prove to that emo pansy ass fuck face that has all the girls going rabid, that he is wrong. Would you like that, Naruto? To show that Fucking jerk how wrong he is? I know I would love to see it" Naruto nodded with determination and smiled. "Okay then. Relax, let go and you'll do great. I'll be standing over there when you are done. Go for it!" Patting him on the shoulders, I walked back to the side of the crowd and waited excitedly.

Taking a deep breath like before and relaxing his shoulders, Naruto got into position. Some of the fan girls thought it necessary to distract Naruto in favor of Sauce-Guy, so they started whooping and hollering loudly. Catcalls and whistling all around from the rest of the class grinded on my nerves, but it didn't affect Naruto one bit. So I relaxed and waited for the result. Breathing deeply for a couple more seconds, Naruto crouched low with one hand holding the shurikans and the other over them. With absolute quickness he didn't have before, threw each one after another at the target and it thudded hard on impact.

Silence happens a lot today because once again everyone's tongue is caught by some stray cat. Shit! Even Naruto's eyes are out of their sockets. Looking around me at the stun faces of our class mates, I smiled when Iruka-sensei recovered first but the rest, still as a statue. So me being me, I just won't let this silence go on much longer. Gesturing to Iruka to cover his ears, in which he did so, I took a huge breath and yelled out at the top of me lungs: "Yea….!" That shook everyone out of their stupor and even made some jump a little bit. Laughing, clapping my hands and jumping for joy as I ran to Naruto and jumped on his back. I caught him by surprise but not enough to fall over.

Laughing with me, Naruto started jumping, whooping and hollering as he spun us around. The rest of the class looked back and forth between us and the target and started to clap lightly at first, then it became louder with whistles and yelling. When we stopped spinning, we both looked at the target with a shit eating grin: there, right dead on in the center of the bull's eye, are the five shurikans lined up neatly in a row. We turned back to the crowd and I yelled out: "Lucky my Ass! This kid is a Fucking natural!" Jumping off Naruto's back, I stood in front of him and clapped both hands on his shoulders, looking him in the eyes, smiling with all my worth. "I knew it! I knew you could do it. I knew without a doubt that you could hit that target a second time. So tell me (dropping one hand) how does it feel to know you proved that Sauce-Guy wrong?" By the time I finished asking, the class minus Sauce-Guy, surrounded us but remained quiet to hear the answer.

His smile grew bigger and it might just split his face in half but he didn't care as he replied: "It feels GREAT!" Throwing his hands in the air and laughing out loud. Everyone that surrounded us laughed with him and patted him on the back while praising him on his awesome throw. Literally beaming with happiness, it just made his day by being surrounded by his class mates that are congratulating and smiling at him.

I looked around us to see who all there is when I spotted Sauce-Guy being consoled by his 2 die-hard fan girls: Pinky and Blondie, off to the side of the crowd and he is scowling something fierce towards our direction. I smiled even more knowing that we: Naruto and I were the cause of such disturbing features. Turning back to Naruto, Iruka-sensei stood next to him and ruffled up his hair and told him he is so proud of him on doing an excellent job. Naruto laughed and thanked Iruka. "Okay since everybody did a great job in today's practice, mainly Naruto (He laughs and smiles) we'll go back in and put our things away for you can an early dismissal. Excellent Job everyone!" The whole class applauded at the early out and rushed back in to finish as fast as they can, so they can leave right away. Sauce-Guy started in with his fan club at his heels but glared at us one last time.

Shrugging Naruto and I were the last to go in but before his hand landed on the door knob I stopped him. He turns towards me with a question in his eyes and so I answered: "Naruto can I ask you something? (He nodded) Would you like to go with me to the Hokage's office and ask him where I'll be living from now on, since he said he'll let me know after class is out for the day? Then after that is done, we can start our training. So what do you think?" I wanted to laugh at the many expressions coming from his face: confusion, realization and finally, utter happiness. Naruto clapped his hands together in a begging kind of way to me and asked: "Really? Like really, really?" Giving me his best (I guess) puppy dog face, I smiled at him and covered my hands over his as I looked him right in the eyes.

"Naruto, you are my first friend and probably my only friend in this village and there is one thing you should know about me: I Don't Lie, ever. I hate lying and despise liars. Why lie when the truth is SO much better. So yea I'm serious about wanting you to come with me to the Hokage's office. Still want to come?" Nodding his head vigorously in reply, I let go of his hand but entwine one and hauled him inside in his zombie-like state. Probably because I'm holding his hand and it might take a while before his brain reboot. As we went inside to our classroom, everyone is just about to head out when Iruka called out to them to say that they can leave for the day. Standing in the doorway, I only saw one other person looking in our direction: Sauce-Guy and he is still glaring but this time at our joined hands. I smirked and started walking out with Naruto to the exit/entrance and this time he is by my side instead of me dragging him. Opening the doors and walking out, I let Naruto lead us the way to the Hokage's office.

* * *

Ch 6

On our way to the office, we went through the village and I started to notice some of the villagers were staring and whispering I so didn't like it at all. Naruto has yet to speak a word since we left the academy and is keeping his head down the entire way. Maybe he noticed also but why are the people acting like this? Staring back at most of them, well the ones that are glaring, I gave them all a dirty look. "What the fuck are YOU staring at?" I said out loud and most of them looked away but the bold ones kept on staring. As we passed a small group of 2 or more near a vegetable cart, they too are glaring in our direction and it is starting to piss me the fuck off. Glaring right back at them all, I squeezed Naruto's hand to let him know I'm still here.

At that moment, in a split second, a hail of rotten vegetables came sailing our way. Letting go, Naruto covered his head with his arms and turned away, waiting for the impact to happen. But nothing came. Uncovering himself, he looked and his jaw hit the ground when his eyes came upon an unbelievable sight: there in midflight, a couple feet from where we are standing, are the rotten vegetables floating in mid-air. That is the 'whoa' part, the 'holy shit' part is me, with my hands out in front of me, controlling the veggies in the air. Silence overcame the entire street that could see what is happening and the people responsible for throwing the veggies, stood in utter shock at the sight.

"Hey Assholes!" That got the attention of the throwers. Swirling my hands in a circular motion, the veggies started moving in the same motion as my hands. The peoples started trembling with their eyes wide as I yelled: "Why don't you Pricks pick on someone your own size instead of picking on kids!" with that I thrust my hands forward and let the veggies sail back at them in full speed, not enough time to dodge them.

When the target hit its mark with a splat, I turned and grabbed Naruto's hand and dragged him away from the scene to the direction we were going. Shocked beyond belief, Naruto didn't put up much of a struggle as I lead him down the street, where others saw what happen and gave us space to walk by. Throughout all this, I had a smug smile on my face as we walked hand in hand away from the crowded streets to a deserted one and only then Naruto stop walking.

I stopped when I felt a slight pull of our connected hands and turn to look at him. He stared at our joined hands for a while, probably didn't know what to say and when he finally did look up at me, I smiled and squeezed his hand in a support kind of way. "Why did you do that to those people? Why are you being so nice to me when I don't deserve it?" Naruto cast his eyes downwards as he asked me this question. Releasing our hands and laid both of mine on his shoulders and waited until he looked up. "Listen to me Naruto and listen good, those people deserve what happen to them, they deserve it because of the way they were treating us. How could they, as adults, do that to us kids when they are supposed to be the older ones, the role models? They were Assholes and needed to be taught a lesson. As for why I'm being nice to you is because you are my friend and a first one at that. Most people won't talk or come near me when they first learn about my tail. In their eyes, **I am Not Normal**. But when I met you, you actually said hi and shook my hand and even went to lunch with me, when you didn't have to. That little act of common decency made me so happy to know that I can actually make a friend. So you deserve the niceness I give and the protection that comes with my friendship. Besides, I always wanted a cute friend" Smiling I gave Naruto a hug and he went stiff at first, then relaxed and hugged me back. I could feel his smile on my shoulder. "Thank you, I always wanted a friend too" He whispered quietly and so I hugged him tighter before I let go and took hold of his hand once more. "So let's go to the Hokage's office so I can unpack and we can chill before our training starts"

As we walked through the corridors of the Hokage's building, there is a buzz going around and with my heighten sense of hearing, I can hear whispering of what happen earlier but the buzzing stopped when we walk by. It starts up again as we go out of sight and Naruto notices as we ascended the stairs. "I guess word got around, eh Naruto?" "Yeah, I guess it did. I just hope the old man doesn't get mad about it though" Scratching his head in wonderment, we made it to the floor of the Hokage's office and instead of stopping at the desk of his receptionist; I breeze right by to the door with Naruto right behind me.

Opening and closing the door, we stood in front of the desk and the Hokage stared right back at us with a wrinkly brown raised. "Well Roxanne, I see you have met Naruto and seem to me that you get along quite alright" I nodded and smile at Naruto as he too smiled and blushed. "My sources also tell me of what took place earlier in the market. Care to explain?" Naruto was about to explain the situation but I held my hand up to silence him. "Hokage, those people were looking at us as if we were the plague or a disgusting bug that need to be squashed right away. Then this group of people had the Audacity to throw rotten, ROTTEN vegetables at us. These were Adults whom acted like children? So I set them straight with a little show and sailed the veggies right back at them instead. I may have cursed at them in a vulgar language but they deserve it for the way they acted" Hand on my hip, I waited for the Hokage's rebuttal and felt Naruto sweating through our still connected hands. The old man scrutinized us with his wise filled eyes and then burst out laughing!

I smiled as Naruto's jaw dropped at the Hokage's reaction and when he calmed down and wiped a tear, is when Naruto rebooted his brain and closed his jaw. "So you're not mad about what happen?" "Oh I'm disappointed but at the people NOT you two and so I'll have a word or two with them when they come to complain later on. Now, how can I help you?" leaning back in his chair the Hokage smile warmly at us.

Releasing the breath he was holding, Naruto wiped away the little sweat that gathered on his forehead waiting for the old man's answer and smiled back. "Well I was hoping the situation for my living arrangement is settled so I can unpack and also where are my bags?" "Yes that's right, it has been settled and here are the papers for a tenant's agreement that need signing. After that is done, you'll get the keys to your new place"

Taking out a bunch of papers out of his drawers and sliding them over with a pen, I let go of Naruto's hand and sat down to begin reading before signing. Everything seem to be in order so I sign my name and slid it back across to the Hokage, whom stamped it with his seal and placed the papers back in his desk. Opening another drawer, he took out a set of keys and unhinged one. "One key is for your door and one for a storage unit in the basement. I'll keep a spare here, just in case" Holding them out for me, I reached over and took it, smiling.

"So where am I living at and where are my bags?" Before I could get an answer out of him, the door open and our sensei walked in with my 2 bags in each hand. "Ah! There are right here. Iruka, would you please hand those bags to Roxanne, they belong to her" Handing them over when I stood back up from the chair, I lifted one over my shoulder and hand one to Naruto so he may help me.

"As for your living arrangement, I do believe Naruto knows where that is" Naruto looked up in confusion as I looked at him in confusion. They stared at each other as if communicating silently until Naruto's eyes grew big in question and the Hokage nodded in what seem like confirmation. Then just like that Naruto jumped, fist pumped in the air and hollered his happiness. A little surprised at this display, I stared at the Hokage who smiled at us all. "Yes! Oh Yeah! Right on old man!" Naruto jumped around for a bit before standing next to me and held onto my hand with, what is probably the biggest smile I've seen so far. "Holy shit Roxanne, I just can't believe it's possible but it is. it really is!"

"Um…okay?" "You will be living in the same building as I am! How Freaking Awesome is that!" My jaw dropped, actually dropped when he said this and I looked towards the old man to see if this was for real and when he nodded, I laughed and jumped on Naruto, hugging the life out of him. "Awesome? Its Fucking Fantastic is what it is! What's my room number so we can go and I can start unpacking?" Slinging an arm around Naruto's shoulders as we both waited for the Hokage's response. "You, Miss, will be one floor below Naruto own apartment, as in directly underneath his own" I nodded at this and turn to Naruto as I slipped my arm off him. "So where do you live?" "About a couple blocks from here, on the top floor, 4B" "4B eh, then that means I'm in 3B. Cool, let's go then"


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing except my name

**Warning: **Course language and emotional turmoil

Ch. 7

After we said our thanks and goodbyes, we left to go check out this apartment building that will be my new place and Naruto was right, it is a couple blocks away. Climbing the stairwell to the 3rd floor, it seem normal, a beige color of sorts on the walls but then again maybe it was something else before nature ran its course on it. The steps itself are dark metal but creaks here and there. When we got to my floor, I noticed the end of the hallway to have no wall at all, like it's for easy access for us ninjas. The walls look sturdy but chips here and there on both the wall and ceiling but relatively in good shape. Stepping to the door of 3B, I unlocked it and walked through the threshold to reveal a small studio apartment. The bathroom is to the left of me behind a simple door and the kitchen area is on the right with the bed straight across from where I am currently standing. Everything is small: the kitchen, the bed, the night stand and living necessities. A large cabinet by the bed for my clothes and I checked the cupboards in the kitchen to see if there is anything and there is: cups, plates, utensils, and cookware.

Closing the door behind him, Naruto set my bags on the bed and sat down, looking around. "Well it's small but I like it" Setting down my other bag on the bed, I open it and started unpack my clothes. "Yeah it is kind of small but it's good if it's you living here" Naruto stands up and opens my other bag, one by one taking out what is in there and laying them carefully on my bed. I smiled at this and nodded in agreement as I proceeded to hang my clothes on the hangers that are provided in the cabinet. The pants, socks and underthings went in the drawer in the bottom of the cabinet. When finished with this, I folded both of the empty bags and threw it on top of the cabinet. "Who's this?" Holding up a picture frame for me to see "My parents, it was taken before I was born" Picking up the scrolls and books, I walked over to a long shelf that stood against the wall between the doors of the bathroom and the front door. "Do you have a picture of yourself when you were little?" Shaking my head in a 'no' I went and took the frame from Naruto and also picked up another frame from the bed to set on top of the same shelf I dropped the scrolls on. "Who's that then?" Pointing at the lone woman in the other frame I picked up. "That's my nanny, her name is Maria" Coming back to the bed, I picked up my camera and bottles of chemicals and walked to the bathroom to set them underneath the sink.

Still holding onto the camera, I came back to the main room and saw Naruto looking at me parent's photo from the bed with a sad smile. Removing the cover of my lens, clicking the film in place quietly, I aimed my camera at Naruto and when he looked my way, I snapped a picture perfect of him and I said as such: "Perfect". Covering the lens and setting the camera down on the stand, I walked back to the bed and picked up a black thick book with various color pens. "What's that?" Naruto asks standing next to me. "This is a story book. Well short stories I've wrote over the years but" I held it out of his reach when he went for it "only when it's completely full will anyone read it, so hands off, ok?" Hands down, Naruto nodded and smiled "I promise I won't try to read it until you are sure you are done"

Setting the book down on my night stand, I picked up the last item on my bed: my bag of toiletries. In and out of the bathroom, I stood once again in the middle of the apartment and looked at my surroundings; I nodded and gestured for Naruto to follow me. Hand on the door knob, I stop mid turn and turned back to Naruto, eyeing him head to toe before shaking my head. Walking over to my 'closet', I rummaged through all my clothes until I found what I was looking for. Hands behind me, I stood in front of Naruto's confuse form and brought me hands out to reveal a set of clothes for him.

"What's that for?" Looking down at the items in my hands than at me, I smiled and held open the shirt: "You can wear these for training today and I'll send for my personal tailor to come ASAP for an emergency fitting, for you" Scratching his head in wonderment but not taking the clothes, he looked down at his attire. "Why? What's wrong with the clothes I'm wearing now?" Smirking at this comment, I stepped forward and untied his jacket from his waist and let it drop to the floor. Having no modesty does have its perk as I unbutton his puffy orange pants whilst he tried to protest but the redness took over his face and vocal cords in embarrassment. Letting the pants drop to the floor, I stood back and pointed down to his shoes, in which he got the meaning and slip both his shoes and pants off. Dropping the shirt on the bed, I bend down to one knee and held open the pants I chose for Naruto to step in and when he did, I pulled it up and zipped it close.

Grabbing the shirt, I once again held it open for Naruto and this time, he put his arms through the short sleeves. Straightening it and button it up a couple, I stepped back to see my handy work as I circled Naruto once. I then went to the bathroom to my bag of toiletries where I keep my accessories such as: chokers, armbands and wrist bands, bracelets, rings, necklaces and whatnots. Grabbing two wristbands, I came back to the main room and put them on Naruto's wrist and again stepped back to see the full description. Orange is a good color for him but not in such huge quantity. Natural color may work well with Naruto, as it contrasts with his hair and skin color. However darker colors really bring out the blueness of his eyes.

The pants I picked out for him are dark grey khakis and a grey short sleeve button up shirt that goes well his already black t-shirt and black wristbands, Naruto then put on his shoes and the image is complete. All in all, I say he looks good. Smiling, I remembered I saw a full length mirror in the 'closet' when I put my clothes away, so I went over to it and open the door to show Naruto how he looks now. "Whoa! Is that me? I so look different in this then the orange get up. I look cool!" Naruto twirled around to get a better look, I stood leaning against the door and letting Naruto have his fill. When he finished looking, he turned to me: "This looks great and all but I can't accept it, Roxanne. It's awesome that you are nice to me and want to be my friend but I can't. What if I do something stupid and you don't want to be my friend no more or if Sasuke bastard starts talking to you, then you won't be my friend and be his friend, I can't, just…cant" Before his could keep on rambling, I stopped him with a finger to his lips when I step next to him during his little rant.

Removing my finger when I knew he won't start talking again, I put both my hands on his shoulders and looked at him square in the eye. "Naruto, how many friends do you have?" "Well there's Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba but they don't really hang out with me very much" "You live alone, right?"

"Yeah"

"If you ask for help, do people help?"

"Not really"

"Are you treated fairly, like everyone else?"

"No"

"When you go shopping, do you get help or told to leave?" His expression gave me an answer.

"Are you ignored in favor of this Sauce Guy?" Same thing

"Have you always been different?" He nodded

"Naruto, I have been ignored, shunned and almost beaten because I am different. I AM Different but it didn't stop me from being nice, friendly, mouthy or forward. The way I was treated most of my life made me stronger not bitter. It made me see that the real world is harsh and dangerous and only the strong survive. I've been on my own since I was two years old (Naruto's head snapped up at this) No help, No parents, Nothing. All that should of made me so bitter, so resentful or just down right Bitchy but it didn't. It only made me stronger and independent and that is what I see in you. I see you trying and struggling and lonely, and I'm not going to stand idly by and do nothing. We both need someone because we have no one else and after years of loneliness, finally there is someone who understands what we feel. That is why I chose you; you understand what it means to be alone, to have no parents to care for you, to have no one help out, to be different. I chose you Naruto, do you understand? I will never cast you aside for anything or anyone. You are my first friend and friendship with me is for Life"

Tears are streaming down Naruto's face as the words sunk in and he knew that my words are true. With a choked sob, he wrapped his arms around my waist and cried openly and freely on my shoulders. I held him tightly and protectively as years of repressed emotions finally came out. A tear rolled down my cheek when I hear the pain and anguish in his sobs and I knew I made a right decision when I chose to sit beside Naruto that first day. He knew the meaning of loneliness like I did, he experience pain without uttering a word, and he knew the feeling that dwell within when nobody showed any interests in our lives. All this I heard and felt through his breakdown, through his sobs, through his pain and it reminded me of myself the first time that I broke down those many years ago.

I was seven at the time and realization hit me full blown about my situation. The loneliness of nobody wanting nothing to do with me the second they learn of my tail, the pain from the beating I sometimes never escape from and the fact that knowing I am a 'monster' kept me from having a normal life and least of all, having no one to love me as a child, as a person and as a being. Everything came down on me, hard and fast, and depression set in slowly, along with dark thoughts of bitterness and anger mixed in. For weeks I didn't eat much and didn't move much, as I stayed in my little camp in the forest far away from any civilization. No one to comfort me, no one to give me warmth and no one to turn my thoughts away from the darkness, I almost became a shell of my former self, crying until I could cry no more and unmoving from my spot in the darken woods. On the 20th day of my depression, the sun finally showed itself in my life. My thoughts stop it ongoing path through negativity and turn itself into positivity. I have been surviving this world on my own two feet since I was born, I taught myself to walk, talk, fight, hunt, trap and fish since then with no help. I've been taking care of myself a doing a damn good job at it than any other person could. I make my own money by selling furs, hides and helping strangers cross dangerous forests. Everything I did, I did to survive and every negative thing people do or say has made me stronger and proved them wrong so many times. After that my strength came back to me and it was enough to hunt with, so that I may eat and get my real strength back.

I proved I am stronger that day and I will prove to Naruto that he is as strong as me this day.

Ch. 8

I held Naruto as he cried his heart out and after he fell asleep, I picked him up bridal style and laid him on my bed. Making sure he is comfortable, I checked my pockets for my wallet and keys before I took off to stock up on groceries. When I came back, Naruto is still sleeping so I made sandwiches and tea for snacks, wrapping them up in saran wrap; I set them on the table. I went over to the bed side table; I picked up my camera, open the cover and snap a couple pictures of Naruto sleeping soundly. Only when I covered the lens and set it back down did Naruto stirred from his sleep as he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

He looked around, I'm guessing trying to remember where he is and when his eyes set on me, he bowed his head in shame and opens his mouth to try and apologize but I stopped him. Sitting on the bed beside him, facing him, I took his hand in mine and use the other to lift his chin up until our eyes met. "Feel better now?" A small smile with a nod is my answer. "Good. Don't ever feel sorry for showing your emotions to me. It hurts to keep it all bottled up and it hurts even more if you believe what you hear. My philosophy in life is this: It doesn't matter what others think of you, they don't know shit. What matters is what you think of you and how well you can prove them wrong. When you thoughts go dark, your vision goes dark and your heart goes dark. That's how bad people are made because they had no one to turn to like you did and all the negativity they thought and felt consumes them whole so that nothing is left but the bitterness, the pain and the hatred for all, You felt this once before, haven't you? (He nodded) As did I, a long time ago, it almost took me but after a while I told myself positive things about my life, about how I survived time and time again in the world and how I overcame so many obstacles with no help. Through the years, I still clung to small strings of hope in finding a friend, no matter how long it took. So all in all, everything turns out great: I finally got a friend and so do you. Remember this Naruto: When we share the hardship of our lives, our guilt, our suffering, and then our pain is lessened. There is no weakness in sharing pain, only grace and honor. Ok?" Smiling to each other, I gave him a one arm hug and he whispered thanks to me.

Letting go, I looked out the window and saw that we still had a couple hours until the sun sets, so turning back and with a smirk; I stood up and hauled Naruto up in surprise from the bed. "Still want to train?" He nodded "Yeah and I know just the place for it. There's this big area in the forest behind the academy and usually not much people hang out there" Picking up his orange pants that was discarded earlier, he dig through the pockets for his keys and coin purse that looks like a frog, cute. Stashing away his things in his new pair, Naruto walked over to the door and opens it, waiting through the threshold for me. I checked my pockets to make sure I had what I need to go out with and when it's all there, I followed Naruto out and locked the door behind me.

As we stepped out in the hallway, I saw some carrier pigeons on the railing, so I dug out a pen and small piece of paper. Scribbled a little note to my personal tailor, I attached it to the leg of one of the birds and whispered to find the person, it took flight. Putting my pen away, I asked Naruto if he was ready, when he nodded, he turn to walk towards the stairway but I had other ideas. Grabbing his arm, I swirled him around and hoisted him onto my back, with a surprised yelp, I ran and leaped over the railing at full speed. Naruto held onto me for dear life as we sailed through the air and slowly coming down to the roof tops of the building next door and I laughed out loud but Naruto yelled instead.

Landing gracefully on the roof top but didn't give Naruto time to relax and try to let go, I jumped once again high in the air to the next building. After a couple more leaps, is only when Naruto started to relax and enjoy himself being carried through the air. One good last leap, we landed on a branch sturdy enough to handle us as we both laughed at the exhilarating experience, Naruto got off and stood on the branch on his own two feet, albeit wobbly but standing nonetheless. "That was Awesome Roxanne! Can you teach me how to do that? Please?" Chuckling at the cuteness of his begging, I nodded and jumped off the branch to land on the ground quietly. Looking back up to the branch, I waved Naruto to jump down but instead of doing what I gestured for him to do, he climbed down, slowly. I sat on the ground waiting for him to climb down and when he finally did, Naruto came over and sat down beside me.

"First things first: you are going relearn the basics of chakra control. From what I've seen today, you weren't taught well and I'm going to fix that. I'm going to explain the basics of controlling chakra first and then show you a good and easy way to up your control. First off: relax. It isn't going to work as well if you are all frazzled up and you'll end up wasting your energy then using it. Relax, clear your mind and let go of the nervousness until your mind and body is calm" With that I stood up and so did Naruto, "Take deep breaths until you feel yourself relax" (He did) "Then bring your hands together and make the usual jutsu sign and then concentrate on your chakra, let it flow through you evenly. When you have that down, flow your chakra down to your feet" Naruto looked at me kind of confused about this last bit. "Here, I'll show you" I walked over to the tree that we landed on and did all that I said and took one step on the base of the tree. Step after step, I walked upwards on the tree without my hands, just with my chakra on my feet. Walking up further until I came underneath a branch, I stood upside down and looked up (for me) at Naruto, who's eyes widen at my display.

"See? If you put enough chakra to your feet, you'll be able to walk on trees, walls and leap from them without worrying if you'll slip or not. BUT if you do too much on one side, you'll crush your step in the tree and fall off. Too little, then you have no grip at all." Jumping off the branch, I somersaulted a couple turns and landed quietly at the base of the tree. Pulling out a kunai from my leg holster and throwing it nearby Naruto's feet, he looked up from the knife to me. "Use that to mark how high you go up and each time try and go up higher than the previous line. Remember: relax and concentrate and clear your mind. I'll be over there doing some katas while you are doing this" Pointing a few feet away, I walked off while Naruto picked up the kunai. "Oh one more thing: Give it a run, it helps with a little speed from the start" I started stretching while walking away, stretching all my limbs to get them loose and ready and then I heard a crash. Turning my head to where Naruto is, it looks like he crashed into the tree instead of climbing it. Pushing himself up into a standing position, he laughed at his own mistake and I could just make out a blush tainting his cheeks before he turned back around, I smiled and we both started our little activity.

A few hours rolled around and it proved worthwhile for Naruto. In those hours he made it to the top of the tall tree and stay there without falling off. He could even hang upside down from a branch, just like I did earlier. I am impressed with the hard work and effort he put into this training session and I told him so. With a hand rubbing the back of his head, he laughed and thanked me.

Walking out of the forest to an open area, I turned my head sideways and asked a really good question: "You hungry?" "Starving, that workout really built up an appetite" "Great, let's go back to my place and I'll cook up a feast worthy of a king" "Awesome! I'll race you there!" Naruto took off like a shot and put to good use the thing I taught him today, laughing I chase after him and when I caught up, we made a brief eye contact. In the brief moment, I smirked and leaped up with a single bound onto the roof tops. Giving a yell and a laugh, Naruto caught up quickly beside me on the tops. Jumping building after building, chasing each other and laughing with such happiness, we made it to our building in a tie.

We didn't care because we were laughing so hard it hurt and so after we calmed down, we climbed the steps with huge smiles on our faces and I slung an arm around Naruto's shoulders. When we reached the 3rd floor, I stopped at the top step and so did Naruto. There standing right by my door is a tall thin black clad man; eyeing us both and Naruto stiffen underneath my arm. Giving him a small squeeze, I slipped my arm off, "No worries man, I know him" Turning to the man; I stepped closer until we were a couple feet from each other and at the same time bowed elegantly at one another.

Straightening back up, we shook hands, "Antonio, how great it is to see you again after such a long time. I am somewhat surprise though that you are here after such a short notice. Care to elaborate?" Letting go of our hands, I gestured for Naruto to come closer, in which he did, hesitantly. "Miss Roxanne, it's always a pleasure to see you, as you do know you are one of my favorite customers and you should have seen MY surprise when a little birdie told me of your current address. I was ecstatic to heard you are in this village as I am now doing a little business myself here and as soon as that was finished, I kicked my ass into high gear and got myself here as soon as possible. I only just arrived minutes before you, so I did not have to wait long. Now, may I ask why I am here, in as you say: short notice?" Smiling warmly at me and me to him, I placed my arm around Naruto's shoulders once again and lightly pushed him forward. "This here is Naruto, my new friend and he is in need of a new wardrobe, fast. Can it be done?" Scoffing at me, Antonio stepped up and I step back as he circled Naruto. "Of course it can be done, who you think you are speaking to, woman. I am the best!"

Chuckling, I took out my keys and unlocked the door. "This way please" Motioning with my hand inside, Antonio went in but Naruto stood in the same spot, with a 'what the heck just happen' look on him and he said so: "What's going on?" "Well that's is Antonio there and he's my personal tailor and he's here to get your measurements for a new wardrobe, so come on, don't want to keep him waiting, the quicker it goes, the quicker he leave. He is a very busy person" Naruto walked in the apartment and I followed, closing the door behind us. Flicking on the lights to bath the room in artificial light as the natural light of the sun is now gone, Antonio scanned the little apartment and sighed: "Now how is it possible to do this here? It is absolute tiny in here" Shrugging off his coat, he laid it down on the bed and then took out a pen, notepad and measure tape and turned to us "Shall we?"

Smiling I turned to Naruto and told him to strip down to his t-shirt and shorts. He looked at me like I grew a second head: "WHAT! Why?" Shocked that I would even mention this, let alone in front of someone he's not familiar with, Naruto stepped back and stared at me. I sighed: "Because if Antonio is to get an accurate measurement then this is the easiest way for him to do so. No worries, Naruto, I'll be here, well in the kitchen but my eyes and ears will be open throughout this whole process while I get dinner started. Relax Naruto, Antonio doesn't bite and he knows what to do, so don't freak out" Nodding in a force manner, Naruto started to get undressed and I gave a nod to Antonio and went to the small kitchen to get started.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing except my name

Ch. 9

A couple minutes passed in silence on both ends of the apartment until I heard giggling: Giggling!

"Aha! He's alive and ticklish it seems" Antonio exclaims happily and I smiled as Naruto laughed and relaxed in the presence of Antonio, knowing he's ok.

So now they are talking, laughing and cracking jokes at one another as I smile and hummed a tune while chopping the veggies and breading the chicken. Getting the rice ready and boiling the water for side dishes, I covered the frying chicken and throwing the veggies in the boiled water; I covered both up and washed up. Grabbing the plates and utensils, I placed them on the counter and stepped closer just as Antonio finished up and Naruto got dressed.

"So, Miss, what kind of clothes was you thinking of for this here young man, might I ask. You know how far my range of clothes goes and you also know the pricing, so what will it be?"

At this question, Naruto's head snapped up, surprisingly not getting whiplash from the speed it went and then Naruto started sputtering out a sentence but neither Antonio nor I could decode the rambling words coming from his mouth as we looked at Naruto sputtering and fumbling with his pants that ended up tripping him to fall flat on his face.

"Well now that that's settled, first I want to know how long it will take to finish and be sent here."

Thinking on this for a bit, Antonio scratching his head while turning a half circle and at the same time Naruto got up and rubbed his face from falling on it.

"Well, Miss Roxanne, my guess estimate for a whole new wardrobe, plus shoes and accessories, if I'm not mistaken, and delivery charges, in which I will personally make it a priority package, so I'm guessing it will be here by Monday. Now as for the payment..?" Naruto started up on his sputtering nonsense sentence.

"Great, Monday is just great! And just like our arrangement before, I'll send word to my accountant and you'll have your payment by morning, so there will be no delay"

Nodding with a smile, Antonio flipped one page of his notepad and waited for my instructions: "As for the type of clothing I've been thinking of: the usual tops such as sweaters, t-shirts, button up shirts (both short and long sleeved), and tanks of various types. The bottoms are jeans, khakis, shorts and sweatpants. The feet areas are socks, of course, dress shoes, sneakers, sandals, oxfords, and boots of different types. Also other types such as jackets, vests, cloaks, and formal wear for special occasions. The usual accessories includes: wrist and arm bands, thumb and pinky rings, earrings (loops and studs), necklaces and chokers, sunglasses (all different and a lot), hats, caps, and bandanas, ties and whatever else you might think we need that look good on Naruto. Colors will be natural colors, dark colors, and along with camouflage, of course. Any other colors can be added if you think it necessary and I'll send word out before I head to school tomorrow, so you can get started the second you are back to your office. Are we in agreement?"

Flipping his notepad close and stashing it away with the pen, grabbing his coat, he slipped it on, and then Antonio smiled and nodded.

"Great! I'll see you to the door and Naruto can go wash up while I do that, so we can eat, ok Naruto?" I think the shock overwhelmed his frail brain because he nodded in a daze and made for the bathroom.

Closing the front door behind me, Antonio turns to me and chuckled: "I can see why you like him, he is so cute"

I nodded smiling. Antonio then bowed to me and I bowed to him, in respect. One last smile, he took off and I went back inside and went to the kitchen.

Filling up a plate, I heard Naruto exit the bathroom and before he could say some sort of excuse regarding the clothes, I cut him off.

"Naruto, before you start and say I'm being too generous and you don't deserve it and that it's too much: Don't. I have everything I need in life, and my savings fund keeps going up no matter what I spend it on, so there is no need to worry about it. For being my friend and my first one at that, this is a thank you gift. Don't try and talk your way out of it because that's not going to happen anytime soon. Just accept it as it is, okay?"

Turning around from facing the kitchen counter, I held two plates and set them on the little table, smiling at Naruto but it faltered when I saw the expression on Naruto's face. His lip is trembling and unshed tears in his eyes. I walked around the table quickly, thinking something happened while my back was turn and stood in front of Naruto. He smiled a teary smile before hugging the life out of me:

"Thank you, thank you so much. No one has ever done anything for me and you have been just the greatest, thank you" Hugging him back, I figured out what had happen: I had given him a gift. Probably the first and only gift he has ever gotten and so I smiled, hugging Naruto tighter. Letting go, I brought my hands up to his face and wiped away the tears.

"Come one, let's eat before it gets cold" Nodding, we both sat down and started eating and laughter could be heard throughout dinner.

After dinner, Naruto helped with the dishes and put them away, then we sat on my bed and I told Naruto about my life outside these walls. Not my whole life, of course, there are some things that shouldn't be told until it's a right time but I did tell about my travels around the nations and staying in the forest and living off the land. Told a tale about how I killed an elk the first time for the meat, fur and produced tools out of the bones. Even the first time I saw the ocean on both sides of the world and throughout my nonstop talking, Naruto listened to every detail closely with wonderment and amusement.

I had no idea it was getting late until Naruto yawned and it being contagious, I yawned too. Looking up at the clock on the wall between the doors, my eyebrows raise in slight surprise: "Wow, I've been talking for so long, it getting pretty late and we do have class tomorrow"

I stood up and stretched my muscles from sitting down too long and Naruto mimic my moves. "Come on by in the morning and we'll walk to the academy together, ok?"

Brightening up at my comment, Naruto nodded: "Oh yeah, for sure I'll be here in the morning" I walk him to the door and when he opens it, Naruto turn to me.

"Good Night Roxanne and I'll see you in the morning" "Good Night Naruto and sweet dreams" One last smile, he left and I locked the door but before I turn away from the door, I heard an exclaimed 'yahoo' from the hallway and I knew it was Naruto.

Getting ready for bed, I brushed my teeth and combed my hair before I climbed in. Sending up a prayer of thanks to the spirits, who are watching over us and to my parents for I now have a friend after a long time without one. I fell asleep with a smile on my face and I knew in my gut that Naruto had one too.

* * *

Ch. 10

The sun shined brightly though my window and it made me wonder why I was sleeping on a comfortable bed and not the dirt ground. Opening my eyes at my surrounds, I then remember everything that happens yesterday and I smiled at the memory. Getting up I stretched the sleepiness out of me and proceeded to do my morning routine that consists of sit ups and push-ups before I head to the bathroom. After a 30 minute shower, I wrapped a towel around my body and went out to the main room and to my 'closet', to pick out my outfit for the day.

I was heading to the bathroom when I heard a knock at the door, so I unlocked it, opened it and standing there looking around is Naruto, whistling away. Upon hearing the door opening, he turned and had an eyeful of a half-naked girl at the door and his whistling stopped dead in mid tune. The reaction is common from the male species: eyes wide as dinner plates and blushing red as a tomato. I laughed it off

"I'll just be a few minutes, Naruto, help yourself with sandwiches in the fridge and I'll be back" In a trancelike state, Naruto walked in gawking at me and nodded absently. Closing the door after he came in, I smiled and went in the bathroom.

15 minutes later, I reemerge from the bathroom, dress and ready for the day, adjusting my wristband and running a hand through my hair for a slightly spiked look. I smiled at Naruto who just finished off a sandwich and held one out for me, thanking him and ate it in 3 bites. Wiping off my hands, I finally got a good look at Naruto and I sighed in relief that Naruto didn't put the orange jumpsuit back on and is wearing the clothes I picked out for him yesterday. From the freshly scent of Bounce, I guessed he washed them and threw them in the dryer last night after he went home.

His clothes kind of collaborate with mine: his is dark grey khakis and grey shirt to my beige cargo shorts and white long sleeved shirt. My tail swishes around behind me in joy and Naruto watches in swaying in awe. I giggled at this and looked up to check the time; we have 30 minutes to go, so I snapped my fingers to get Naruto's attention.

"Come one lets go" Turning to the door, Naruto fist pumped the air and a 'yea'; we headed out into the sunny morning.

Locking the door behind me, I walked over to the railing and put out a small piece of paper, with a pencil and wrote out a message to my peoples regarding the purchases from yesterday. Rolling it up as small as it can go; I tied it to a pigeon's leg and quietly gave it the coordinates. As it took off, as did we, down the steps and out into the still quiet streets of Konoha.

By walking and not jumping the rooftops, we got to the academy grounds with 15 minutes to spare, Naruto and I chatted about what to do during our after school training and once again my eyes noticed the two girls from yesterday: Pinky and platinum blonde. Looks like they are waiting and I'm guessing it's for us, so I sighed in a huff. I nodded my head at them for Naruto to see and his face broke out into a broad smile when he saw pinky standing there.

As we came closer to them, they noticed we were coming and also noticed Naruto with his new image; their eyebrows hid themselves in their hairline in disbelief.

"Wow Naruto, you look different, did you get a haircut?" Platinum blonde asks,

"No that can't be it, and did you get taller or something?" Pinky looks him up and down, trying to figure it out. Smirking at this, I shake my head at their confused looks and Naruto just smiles ear to ear.

"Anyways ladies, good morning and what do we owe the pleasure of your company this fine morning? Is it so our arrangement is still in place?" They smile in unison

"Yea, same as yesterday and Sasuke is inside as we speak. We also have a girl standing by to sit next to you two, is that alright?" motioning my hand for them to enter first, I replied:

"Fine and dandy as long as you know what you are doing"

Following them in but staying a ways away behind so to give them space. Naruto walked side by side and I started talking about what we are going to do today after school. Getting into class and once again the discussion on who sits where begins right away, loudly and I ignored them in favor of Naruto who started making suggestions on our activity later on. Walking passes the girls in their heated argument, we made our way up to the same place we sat yesterday afternoon and continued talking.

"Hey Naruto!" called someone on my left and we both turn towards the sound and there stood a bushy haired guy with red triangle markings on his cheeks and the same pineapple haired guy who was asleep yesterday.

Standing by our desk, Naruto replied back: "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Is there something different about you today?" The red faced guy asks checking out Naruto head to toe and probably thought he might see an answer on Naruto physically for his question. At least he's looking in the right place since the answer IS right there. Naruto scratched his head for a moment in thought and then it hit him.

"Oh, I got a new outfit! Instead of my usual orange getup, Roxanne picked this out for me, isn't it cool?" Naruto then stood up and twirled once around to show off his attire and it made me happy that he is happy.

"Oh hey Roxanne, this is the guys I sometimes hang out with (or get in trouble with, he whispered) this is Kiba and Shikamaru" Standing up next to Naruto, I shook hands with them

"Hey, I'm Roxanne, what's up?"

"Not much (yawns) just too early to be up for school (yawns) damn, I'm going to go sit and sleep for a while, nice meeting you" The one called Shikamaru said as he walked away and fell asleep the second he sat down on his desk.

"Ha-ha that's Shika for you, smart as hell but lazier then a sloth. So what are you guys talking about?"

"Oh just this and that, you know?" Raised an eyebrow at me for me short answer and I sat down facing him. Naruto chuckled before clapping me on my back

"Yea, we were talking about what do to later on and so far we haven't really figured it out but it'll come to us soon"

"Oh cool, cool. Hey I heard what happen yesterday after classes let out (Kiba whispered) as did everyone else. Sorry about that, dude, you both didn't get hurt or nothing, right?" Checking us over with his cat-like pupils

"Nah, nothing happen to us but everyone else got slimed by the rotten veggies" Naruto explained and Kiba smiled in return, just then Iruka-sensei came in and everyone went back to their seat except for Kiba.

"Mind if I sit with you guys today?" We nodded in confirmation and he pulled out an extra chair by my left and sat down.

I surveyed the kids around our classroom as Iruka talked and saw Pinky and Blondie sitting on Sauce-guy's row but he wasn't paying attention to the front. Instead he is staring at me but not smirking or glaring like before, just looking as if he's studying me with interest. Raising an eyebrow in question to his staring, he quickly turns around to face the front and I could faintly make out a light blush on his cheeks 'how odd'.

Class went on, we took notes and before recess came, Iruka saw Shikamaru sleeping with his head on his arms on the desk and so Iruka yelled at him to get up, even threw a chalk in his direction but Shika just mumbled: '5 more minutes Ma' and turned his head the other way. We all snickered at first and then laughed out loud when started yelling and his face turned red with a large vein sticking out of his neck, it was hilarious. Anyways after Iruka gave up and calmed down, he let us go for recess break and everyone filed out, even Shikamaru when he realized it was break time.

At the side entrance, where everyone takes their recess break, is a rack on the left side of the doors filled with sporting equipment, so I grabbed 2 mitts and a baseball. Handing one to Naruto, we both ran out to the open field and started throwing the ball to each other. At first it got to simple so we moved back 2 feet and it helped a lot. Naruto and I started making small talk as everyone else did their own thing: the girls are giggling in a huddle of sorts and looking at Sauce Guy, who sat on the steps staring at us play catch with a blank expression on his face. No boredom or glares or anything and that's…funny.

Kiba, Shika and a fat kid came over from their stance by a lone tree in this area,

"Hey guys, want to join?" Naruto asks them and throw the ball back to me

"Yeah, grab some extra mitts and we'll throw the ball around" Kiba and the fat kid nodded but Shika declined and said he'll just sit back and watch.

Kiba ran to the rack of equipment and grabbed 2 more mitts and came back, handing one the kid. In a four way square, we threw the ball around, interchanging here and there and chat started up.

"Oh, Roxanne this is Choji, he's Shikamaru's best friend" Kiba introduces

"Hi" (Choji grunts)

"Yeah, he doesn't say much but he is a good listener" Kiba mentions with a smile and throws the ball to Naruto as Shika chuckled: "Got that right"

Throwing the ball around was a good idea, got to know the guys that Naruto sometimes hang out with and even what they are into: Kiba has a family that adores dogs and trains with them. Choji's family are eaters, from what I can see (eating munchies when he's not throwing the ball) and can expand their body parts to magnificent sizes. Shika I already know is a smart kid but lazy as hell and a sleeper too. Kiba has a dirty mouth, as much as I and Choji pretty much grunt his responses.

Inputting his 2 cents, Shika mentions how Kiba has a puppy following him or is being carried in his hoody. Bark! His hoody barks in confirmation as a little white puppy head pops out.

"Akamaru meet Roxanne, Roxanne meet Akamaru" I walked up to Kiba and looked at the little puppy and he looks at me too, then I leaned in closer and sniffed him.

Akamaru sniffed me too and barked in a gentle manner.

I smiled at him and nodded: "Nice to meet you too, Akamaru" Held out my hand to him, his paw stuck out and actually shook mine.

Letting go, I walked back to my spot and Akamaru barked again: "He likes you" Kiba says and I say I like him too.

* * *

Ch. 11

The bell rang to warn us that we have less then 4minutes to get back into class and Naruto, getting surprised by the sound, ended up throwing the ball way over me and I could reach it.

"Oops sorry Roxanne"

"S'ok I'll get it, you go on in and I'll meet you inside" He nodded and headed in with the guys as I walked a ways away to the misfire ball. Picking it up and heading back, I played with the ball: throwing the ball up and catching it but doing that, I didn't notice someone waiting by the entrance. I stopped throwing the ball and stepped by the rack to put them away but I stopped mid-way.

There, sitting on the steps, is Sauce Guy looking at me with the same blank expression from earlier and so without losing eye contact with the guy, I put the mitt and ball away and he stood up from his seat on the steps. I walked around the concrete railing and he took a step down, so we stood face to face at the bottom of the stairs. Sauce Guy is the first to look away and clears his throat:

"Hey"

That's it?

I raised an eyebrow at this

"Hey" He clears his throat again

"Um…listen, I want to apologize for yesterday. I lost my cool and that normally doesn't happen…ever. So…um…I'm sorry" When those words left his mouth, he looked up at my gaze and I nodded once, so he continued:

"We got off on the wrong foot yesterday and I like to start anew. My name's Sasuke" He held out his hand to me. I looked at the extended appendage in curiosity, then at him and shook it. "Roxanne"

Letting loose of his hand quickly but not too quick for him to notice and started up the steps to the entrance. Sasuke fell in step with me and opened the door for me in a gentlemanly manner, I guess. I just raise an eyebrow at him but refrained from saying a word and walked in.

"Listen um…what you are doing after class?" I glanced at him for a second then looked ahead "Naruto and I will be hanging out after classes, undecided on what to do though but we still got all day to think about it"

"Oh" Is that disappointment I sense in his tone?

"Oh well if you're not doing anything maybe we can hang out some other time?" Is that hopefulness? It sounded like it.

I looked at Sasuke from the corner of my eyes and saw a small blush on his cheeks. I stopped outside the classroom door and turned to face him, with a hand on the door knob. When Sasuke looked up from staring at his shoes with renew interest and started to fidget a bit under my stare, I pitied him, a bit.

"We'll see"

Opening the door, I gestured for him to go first and saw the smallest smile grace his feature before his look of indifferent replaced it. I breezed by him up to the levels and sat back in my seat; Iruka started class up again when we all were seated.

Naruto nudged me on my side and I looked at him in question: "What's up with that?"

He gestured to Sasuke in confusion and I smirked at Naruto before turning back to the front but leaned over to whisper: "He apologized for yesterday and I made him blush"

Naruto eyes widen slightly at this bit of information "He actually apologized?" I nodded and Naruto smiled a small smile as we both paid attention to Iruka.

Lunch came around slowly and when the bell rang, we took off but this time Kiba, Shika and Choji joined us and they suggested a BBQ place that lets you fry up your own meat on a small grill like pit on your table. On the way Naruto complained that he wanted ramen and I promised him that next time it will be ramen but this time I wanted to try something different.

He pouted for a full minute until I slipped my arm around his waist and gave him the cutest puppy dog look I could muster, even went as far as nuzzling him. He caved right in and blushed tomato red as the guys snickered quietly around us.

Following Choji since Shika says that he knows it better than anyone else, we walked into a nice looking restaurant and host showed us a window seating booth. Shika and Choji sat on one side of the booth and the 3 of us sat on the other end, I sat on the outer end of the booth and Naruto sat in the middle. The waitress came by and took our orders for lunch and beverages and we sat waiting, chat it up for the time to pass.

Then I heard them mention something about an important test, a test that will officially classify us a level one Shinobi: a Genin and it's coming up in a few weeks.

"A Genin, what's a Genin?" "Well, a Genin is a beginner's level for a Shinobi, you do the easiest and lowest missions and work your way up. There are 3 levels for a Shinobi: Genin, Chunin and Jonin. As you probably already know, there are 2 Ninja Academies in 2 nations and we take classes to learn the basics of a Shinobi. Let's say from grade one until the beginning of Jr. High we learn the basics in Taijutsu, Genjutsu and Ninjutsu, along with the proper ways to defend ourselves. When we reach the age of 12, we take the exam and if we pass then we 'graduate' and receive our headbands to show others we are now a full fledge Ninja. We no longer have to go to classes but are assigned a 4-man cell: 3 students and 1 Jonin. With a 4 man cell, we go on missions in or outside the village and if the mission is completed, then we get paid after we come back here to the village" and that ladies and gentlemen, is the longest I've heard Shikamaru speak. Hahaha!

"Oh so when is this exam and where?" No body answered and I was going to repeat the question but the waitress came back with our orders. Handing each of us a plate, she placed 2 large plates next to the grill thingy filled with uncooked pieces of meat and right away Choji got to work. Picking up a few pieces with his chop sticks and laid them on the grill thingy: self-cooking or help yourself cooking. I've haven't seen anything like it before and I have been to many places.

Anyways after everyone is cooking their pieces of meat, I asked the question again and this time someone answered.

"I say in about a month, give or take a few weeks but yeah" Kiba says and pops a piece in his mouth. I smiled at his answer and grabbed some meat for myself to cook and grill them up good and tender. Whilst eating I wondered what the exams are supposed to be on? One thing is for sure though; Naruto and I will be working our butts off to make damn sure that we pass with flying colors.

Eating our fill, we paid the bill and left the restaurant, taking our time walking back to the academy. Choji, who just had lunch, is now munching on a bag of chips that he pulled out of nowhere, weird.

"Naruto (he looks at me) we are going to be training today and every day after until our exams. We are going to work hard, so hard that it'll take us forever to get back home even if it means that our muscles turn to jelly or if our minds turn to mush. I sure as hell ain't going to just sit around and not do anything while everyone else is working their asses off. So what do you say Naruto?" "Damn rights we going to work hard, I am so in!" Fist pumping in the air and I slung an arm around his shoulders, chuckling at him and his cute blush.

"What about you guys?" Naruto asks the other guys

"Choji and I will be training together, like always and almost every day"

"And I'm training with my sister and her dog so Akamaru and I can be in sync like her"

"Nice" Slipping my arm off Naruto's shoulders and looped it with mine as we all walked in comfortable silence, and I unwrapped my tail to let it flow behind me.

"How is it that you have a tail, Roxanne? (Kiba asks) I don't think I've seen anybody else have one anywhere"

"Neither have I, Kiba and I've been around. I've had my tail for as long as I can remember and I think I was born with it"

"You think? Isn't there like pictures of you as a baby?" Shika and his 2 cents ask.

"Nope, not that I can find in my home back in my old village"

"Weird, usually people have pictures of themselves as babies but then again, Naruto doesn't have any either"

"Well that's one of the many things I have in common with Naruto" A big smile and chuckle came from Naruto and the hand that is not occupy with mine, rubbed the back of his head.

_Next chapter will be delayed as I have yet to complete half of it because believe it or not, I already have the ending in my head BUT I have no idea how to approach it. _

_Also I'm following the show not the manga as I have seen the show (uncut version) many times and_

_So I am willing to listen to input and ideas and it will be much appreciated and I will thank those in my next upcoming chapters._

_PS: Also have a sequel for this and I have no idea if it's a good idea to put it up…should I?_

_**Reviews are welcomed in any form or sense, as long as you read my story and give your 2 cents about it, Thanks!**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing except my name

Author's note: I borrowed some info cause I just didn't know how to explain it.

Ch. 12

Small talk littered around our small group and by the time we got to the entrance of the academy, we are laughing our heads off at a dirty joke Kiba made that involves a sailor and a married man. Wiping the laughter from my eyes, I looked towards the entrance to see if anyone is waiting and today must have been a good day for there isn't anybody waiting.

The second we walked through the doors, the bell rang to let us know we have 5 minutes left until class starts up again for the afternoon. Shika and Choji are the first ones in, followed by Kiba, Naruto and I and once again the girls are really loud arguing who gets to sit beside Sasuke. Whoa, I got his name right. Anyways he saw us coming into class and smiled but it faltered when he also saw my arm looped in with Naruto's. I noticed this, unfortunately Naruto is telling a joke about a judge and an old lady, so I didn't really care if Sasuke is glaring daggers or not because the joke is funny.

Walking up the steps and bypassing the girls, I discreetly whispered to Naruto and Kiba to keep a good eye out for a cat fight because sooner or later, one of these girls is going to snap and all hell might break loose and I for one will not miss it. Chuckling, we got to our seats and sat down, enjoying the commotion for any slip up they might do and so I quickly glanced around our classroom before turning back to the scene. I'm guessing most of the students around are either engrossed in the scene as we are or completely ignoring it to notice that Iruka came in and tried to clear his throat but couldn't be heard over the loudness of the girls. He tried again and nadda, so I thought I might help out a bit. Standing up, I quickly signaled for the guys to cover their ears before taking a deep breath and putting 2 fingers in my mouth, I let out a tremendous whistle that nearly shook the building and I could hear the dogs barking outside. When I finished, I looked to the girls who are now hiding behind the desks and covering their ears:

"Well now that is settled, I do believe Iruka-sensei is _trying_ to start the class, however the high volume of yelling and screeching from certain female species delayed such possibility and in doing so, resulted in me getting your attention. Iruka-sensei if you would be so kind, please proceed in our afternoon class without any further disruption, Thank you!" A standing ovation and thunderous clapping from the rest of the class has me bowing in thanks and I sat back down with a laughing Naruto and Kiba as the girls blushed in embarrassment, I smirked in triumph.

The afternoon class was uneventful, just taking notes, answering known questions and us three passing notes and trying with all our might to NOT laugh out loud at Kiba's dirty jokes. When the bell finally rang to signal the end of class for the day, the three of us stretched our muscles since sitting in the same spot kind of cramps them and made our way down the steps. Walking out of class and out the front entrance, Shikamaru and Choji came in step with us and we strolled leisurely to the market but the long way. Choji munching on his stash of chips and Shika kept yawning every few minutes whereas Kiba is chatting with Naruto about something. As we are walking by a grassy hill, I smiled in content and listened to the world around me, until someone spoke up.

"Hold up" He says and stops right at the bottom of a trail that lead up the grassy hill and we turn to Shika as he looked up at the nice sunny sky and at the puffed out clouds around here and there. He nodded at Choji whom shrugged:

"Choji and I are going to head up that hill and go clouds gazing, ok?"

"Yeah, see you later guys" A small wave and off they went, up the grassy hill. The three of us walked on

"Yeah, Shika and Choji liked their cloud gazing up there. I think it's their spot or something" Kiba smiled at that and went back to talking to Naruto. I took in the sights around the area we're in: the trees, the houses and the beauty in it all. Nature at its best; I just love it!

Coming into the market place, people stared but keep on what they were doing and trying not to seem too troublesome, not like yesterday. When I looked around at some of them, they quickly looked away and when they tried to whisper, they stopped when we walked by. I guess my little lesson came through.

The market place is near normal, like any other day: people bustling here and there, children running around and driving their parents crazy. Kiba butt in between Naruto and I, slung both arms around our shoulders and smirked his fangy smile.

"I think you taught them a thing or two yesterday, huh? They seem to lessen any animosity they once had, eh Naruto?"

"It nice to just walk without anyone glaring or saying something mean"

"Yeah Roxanne did you a favor and its good, really good" Naruto then smile at me and I smiled back

"Well I was thinking that…" Kiba stopped right there in mid-sentence and step, we all stopped. A howl, a quiet howl from a dog, I could hear that and I know the 2 boys could too but it's so quiet as if it's from a distance and the people in the market place could not hear it. Only those with acute hearing could hear it and that category fall on us three.

"Kiba, I think that was for you" A bark and a small head popped out from Kiba's hoody

"Yeah, I think you're right. Well see you guys later then" He turns and runs off in the direction we just came from, Naruto then turns to me and ask:

"You heard that too right?" I nodded in confirmation and Naruto smiled: "Cool" Walking the same way we were just going, we kept a normal pace to our apartment building and made small talk regarding the training we will be doing.

Stepping up the stair to my floor, I told Naruto to change into something training worthy and meet me back here in 10 minutes. With a mock salute, Naruto hightailed outta there and I unlocked my door. Going straight to my so-called closet, I rummaged through what I have and out came a loose muscle shirt and sweat pants.

Happy with what I got, I proceeded to the bathroom and changed. Not a minute later, I came back out to the main room and heard to knock.

"It's open, Naruto" I yelled as I went into the kitchen and looked around for an empty water container bottle.

"Hey, almost ready to go?" I didn't look up from the cabinets until I found a good size container.

"Yeah, just grabbing some water for the road" Opening the fridge and picking out the pitcher of water I put in last night.

Filling to the brim, I put the pitcher back and close both the fridge door and the water bottle. Turning towards where Naruto is standing and making sure the lid is tight so no leakage, I finally looked at Naruto and I chuckled at what I saw.

"I don't know if it's just me but we think a lot alike, Naruto" I say this while looking at Naruto's choice of training clothes: A loose sleeveless shirt and sweat pants.

Checking out my clothes and looked down at his, Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and smiled.

"Yeah I guess we do. So are you ready now?" Little eager, aren't we? Nodding in confirmation, I lead the way out my door and went Naruto walked out, I locked the door and just like yesterday, I grabbed Naruto and hauled him on my back before leaping over the railing. This time though, instead of yelling in fear, Naruto is yelling with excitement and we laughed as I jumped over the rooftops.

Ch. 13

Landing on the same tree as yesterday, Naruto got off my back and I somersaulted off the branch and landed gracefully on one foot. I smirked smugly up at Naruto and he stuck his tongue out at me: "Show off!"

I laughed and waved him down, "See if you can do better" I challenged. He smirked, actually smirked my smirk right back at me and rubbed his hands together. "Watch this" Naruto somersaults off the branch but adds a twist of his body in midair and lands with his back to me, hands in the air.

"You made that up" I clapped him on the back and we both looked up at the same branch we jumped off of. "I think you're right" Naruto looks confused as to how he did what he did. "Well I think it was awesome and I think we should keep that up along with the race to get here, like a sort of warm up to get started" Naruto nodded and started to stretch a bit.

"So what are we doing today?" Reaching down and touching his toes and coming back up, Naruto looked my way. Stretching myself, I addressed the question: "First off: you are going to show me what you learned yesterday and if you still remember it. Now hop to it, Naruto" Throwing a kunai at his feet and a hand on my hip, I waited for Naruto to start. "Alright" Picking up the knife, Naruto turned to the same tree we came off of and concentrated on molding and maintaining his chakra. When he was done, Naruto walked up to the tree and started to walk upwards on it, without the use of his hands.

I followed up after him and soon enough we were at the top of the tree overlooking the tree tops and roofs of the village. "Hmm not bad, not bad and so we'll make our way down to see if your techniques are still in stable conditions" Naruto scoffs at my use of big words but follows me back down. When we reach the mid-way point of the tree, I proceeded to the underside of one large branch, so I am now hanging upside down, and Naruto catching my drift, went to another branch to do the same.

"Good, good Naruto, now flip off" arms across my chest, I waited for Naruto to jump.

"Flip this" Flicking the finger in my direction and laughing about it, Naruto literally flipped off the branch, and landed, facing the other way. When he turned and looked up, Naruto was just about to boost about his abilities until I cut him off.

As Naruto flipped off upside down from the branch, I did a series of hand signs and only when Naruto landed, did my jutsu activated. I started spinning on the spot as the wind picked up and twirled around me like a mini cyclone. That cyclone made a tunnel-like trail from the branch to the ground near Naruto, whom is covering his face from the gust of dirt and wind. As the wind died down, so did my spinning and soon everything is as still and quiet as it was earlier. Naruto, wiping what dirt and leaves were stuck to his face or hair, looked on in awe and I smiled up at the sun shining through the trees.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Looking at Naruto who had yet to pick up his jaw off the forest floor and so I walked up to him.

"Here let me help" Slipping a finger under his chin, Naruto's jaw clunked closed and let my hand drop to his hand and slipped out the kunai from it. Turning and walking off in the direction of where I thought I've seen a small stream and I didn't wait for Naruto to come to.

I guess the small stream wasn't far off as I could see it and it looked like a good size stream for the exercise I'm going to let Naruto do, not too deep but also not to shallow and wide enough.

"Hey!" Ah there he is and only 10 minutes has pass, so I sat down right next to the flowing stream and waited for Naruto to appear.

"Finally, I thought I lost you there for the whole day" I chuckled at his grand entrance of stumbling in the open and patted the ground beside me for him to sit. When he did, he crossed his legs Indian style and we sat in silence for a bit, just enjoying the quietness that nature has to offer.

"Well time to get to it I guess. Now (turning on the spot so I am facing Naruto) we know that you aced the tree climbing technique by maintaining your chakra in even amounts to both feet so it can stick and a very good job you did too" I patted him on the shoulder and Naruto blushed but smile at the compliment.

"Now, today's exercise might at first make you look at me like I'm beyond crazy or something because you'll give me a look that clearly says: 'seriously'. But then after you'll be so awed in my attempt to show you what I mean, that you'll run into town and grab me something to snack on that is NOT ramen, just to show your gratitude in my training you. Yes exactly like that looks right now!" The 'seriously' look he's giving me is so right on the dot that...…why is he still looking at me like that?

"What you talking about, Roxanne?" Raising an eyebrow at me and still had the look on.

"Anyways…moving on…since you now know how to climb a tree with your chakra, today you're going to try your luck on walking on water" I stood up at this but Naruto didn't move, except for his other eyebrow raising to meet up with the first one.

"Ok, you know how the tree climbing technique needed no hands, right? (He nodded) Ok, well this is an application to that. You gather an amount of chakra and maintain it. Trees are solid, so all you have to do is make it stick. This exercise is to mold a constant amount of chakra since water is a liquid and is constantly moving. To walk on water, you must constantly release the right amount of chakra from your feet to the water and balance the amount to make your body float. This chakra control is harder than maintaining chakra" At this time, Naruto choose to stand up and so I walked over to the edge of the stream but still facing Naruto.

"This exercise is designed to teach you to control your chakra by releasing a constant amount of it and will help in certain type of jutsu's. (Bringing my hand up for the normal hand sign) First you accumulate chakra into your feet (chakra glows around my feet) Next you constantly release a certain amount of chakra to balance yourself while afloat (I stepped in the stream and started to walk over the surface) and Voila! You're walking on water" I walked a ways away to prove I am constantly release a certain amount of chakra to stay afloat.

"Whoa!" Naruto stared in awe as I had predicted earlier and so I smirked and respond as so.

"Naruto, didn't I say you'll be in awe?" He nodded in confirmation

"And didn't I say that you also run into town to get me something…" I so didn't finish my sentence because the only thing left of Naruto is his after image puff of cloud and a streak lined that lead out of the forest. I laughed at this and walked back to the shore. Taking a look around the forest, I breathed in the woodsy smell and fresh water smell from the stream. I sighed in content and closed my eyes, before starting a series of katas while I waited for Naruto to get back.

During my 50th push up, since I finished my katas and started on my exercise, I looked up when I felt that Naruto was close. One last one, I pushed myself up in a hand stand and flipped backwards to land on my feet, facing the direction that Naruto went. Appearing from the shrubbery, Naruto had a large container wrapped up in a sheet. He smiled widely at his accomplishments as he set down the large item next to me.

"Whoa!" who knew right, I sure didn't and I am please he did, so I told him so.

"Thanks Naruto, you didn't have to get me THAT much" Rubbing the back of his head, Naruto blushed and waved his hand in a gesture of sorts.

"Nah, it's nothing, really. I just didn't know what you liked, so I just got you almost one of everything I could get my hands on" Looked down at his feet in a shy fashion and I won't have that.

Lifting his head by his chin with my finger, I looked Naruto in the eyes and genuinely smiled at him in appreciation.

"Naruto it's awesome and Thank you" A light kiss on his cheek told him that I am very thankful and the blushed that completely consumed Naruto told me that he appreciate it.

"Anyways, you want to get started before it gets dark? I'll keep the food as is, so when we're done, we can take back to my place and eat it there together" By now Naruto snapped out of his daze (I think) and rubbed his hands together.

"Alright, just watch, I'll have this thing down in now time…what are you going to do?" Turning his head to me as I walked back to the spot I was before Naruto came back.

"Nothing much, just weight lifting, hand eye coordination and stealth while you work on this technique" I wasn't lying. I usually keep up my training so I don't lack just because I'm in a village.

"Oh, ok then" Turning to the stream, Naruto gathered his chakra to his feet and stepped in. BUT his foot went right through the water and got his foot soaked.

"This might take longer than I thought it would be" I chuckled.

_I know it's sort (I think) but it's just something to keep up since I'll be away from my laptop for a few days_

_PS: I have a sequel for this and I have no idea if it's a good idea to put it up…should I?_

_**Reviews are welcomed in any form or sense, as long as you read my story and give your 2 cents about it, Thanks!**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing except my name

Author's note: Enjoy

The epic Fight!

Many hours have gone by and looking up towards the sky, I could see that the sun is on his way to descending to sunset and soon it will be time to leave. Wiping the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand, I looked to where Naruto is and saw that he is ankle deep instead of knee deep. Stretching the slight soreness from my body, I started to walk over to the stream and silently watched as I leaned on a nearby tree while Naruto try the exercise again but the same result came back: being ankle deep in the water.

After a few minutes passed, I cleared my throat and got Naruto's attention.

"I think we'll leave this exercise as it is and continue it tomorrow, what do you think?"

"Yeah, but I did good, right Roxanne?" Naruto asked me with a slight insecurity in his voice.

"Yeah Naruto, You did very well and faster than thought necessary. Most people would have not come as far as you have in this exercise and so, well done" I clapped him on the back when he came closer to my side and Naruto beamed at me.

"So anyways, you grab that (I pointed at the food container) and we'll walk back to my place and have a nice dinner" We went to where the container is and Naruto hauled it up.

The walk back to the apartment building was uneventful with small waved to some students who actually waved first and we chatted about the difference between fighting stances. Getting to my floor, I unlocked my door, we both walked in and Naruto put the bundle of food on the kitchen table and turned to me.

"I'm going to head to my place and clean up, so I'll be like 20 minutes or so"

"Ok then, I'll set thing up and warm up some of the food while you're doing that" Not a bad idea. When Naruto left, I un-wrapped the sheet that covered the container and proceeded to set aside the food that needed to be warmed up and put out plates, with utensils. Getting out a baking sheet and putting wax paper on it, I set the oven to low and put the food on the baking sheet. Placing the sheet in the oven, I went to my 'closet' and grabbed some clothes and made my way to the bathroom for a quick shower.

Clean and fresh, I was towel drying my hair when I came back into the kitchen, I then took out the warmed up food from the oven and placed it on top of the oven to cool off while I wait for Naruto to come back from his shower.

Sitting on a chair in my kitchen, drying my hair, I started thinking if I should redecorate this place and make it more homey then what it is now. Looking around my apartment, I started making a mental checklist of what needs to be replaced or thrown out since I had no idea how long it's been since the last time anybody redecorated this place. One thing for sure: I needed a bigger bed, softer one too and better comforters. Maybe some lumber to make a better, bigger closet and put up a wall so I can have a room with privacy. As I thought more and more about what I can get, I barely heard a knock on the door that got me out of my musing and so got up to open it and see a slightly damp haired Naruto smiling at me and I let him through.

"The food is well warmed up so help yourself" and so we had a nice quiet evening together, and when night came later, we bid each other good night with a promise of meeting up again to walk to school tomorrow.

Waking up this morning earlier then yesterday, I stretched and started on my morning exercise and routine but delayed the shower in favor of making a list I gathered mentally yesterday in regards to my living arrangements. Even went as far as measuring the height and length of closet, the height of the ceiling and the length on how far I want it to go is also measured so I may even get a wall, possibly a door too.

Writing everything down that I might want to purchase here or let my accountants have the choice of buying them and delivery what I want themselves, either/or.

When finished that, I walked over to my closet and pulled out a set of clothes for the day, set them on the bed and went to take my morning shower before Naruto came by.

Once again towel drying my hair, dressed to impress, a thought came across my mind: Naruto needs a different outfit for today because there is a possibility that he just might use the same clothes that he wore yesterday during school hours. Throwing the towel on my bed, I went to the 'closet' and looked around for an outfit for Naruto so when he does show up with the same clothes then he can change and we can leave.

My attire consist of blue denim shorts, a white muscle shirt and baby blue sleeveless hooded sweater, so I want Naruto to kind of match what I'm wearing plus it will clearly bring out the blueness that is his eyes. So pulling out a navy t-shirt and black cargo shorts to go with it, I set them on the bed and went back in the bathroom to finish the last touches of my hair.

Gel can do wonders to short hair like mine, along with a flat iron and good hairspray too, but good gel can flare your hair up in nice spikes and not look too stiff if you know which ones to buy. Anyways, flaring my hair in spikes up to the left side of my head and making sure it all stays up, a series of knocks came at my door in a tune sort of style. Smiling, I check one last time in the mirror and head out to the main area to the door, opening it to reveal what I already had a hunch regarding: Naruto in the same outfit as yesterday.

Before he could say good morning, I grabbed him by the cuff of his shirt, hauled his ass in and threw a set of clothes at him before pointing to the bathroom. Without missing a beat, he went in the bathroom to change, like he was expecting it. While he is busy, I made my way to the fridge and took out some fruit to slice up and poured juice for Naruto and I.

Setting these on the table, I heard the door open to show a comfortable dressed Naruto come back out and twirled for me, smiling.

"So, how do I look?" Tilting my head to one side and the other, I walked pass Naruto and grabbed two things: a bandana and gel.

Wrapping the bandana around his forehead and adjusting it here and there so it is over his forehead but not over his ear. Dabbing a small amount of gel on my hands, I spread it evenly and then combed my fingers through Naruto hair so it spikes up a bit to make a sort of out of bed look. Standing back to admire by handiwork to make sure I got it right as I turned Naruto's head left to right so I had a good view, smiling at the results and gave Naruto a thumbs up.

"Looks Awesome, Naruto" Washing off the last remaining gel off my hands, I let Naruto in to admire my work as I dried my hands with the discarded towel I left on the bed and went to the kitchen to sit down.

"Looks alright" he says as nonchalant as he could when comes back out about 3 minutes later with a smug smirk on his face and sits down with me on the table, picking up a slice of apple and chews on it for a bit. 'Right' I scoffed as I thought while we silently ate.

Checking the clock to see that it's time to leave, I picked up the empty plate and rinsed it off in the sink as Naruto stood and stretched.

Wiping my hands, I turned back to Naruto: "Ready?"

"Yeah, are we going to walk or take the roof tops?"

"Don't matter, we have time to walk there and we'll have a lot more time if we run so it's doesn't matter to me" He nodded to me as we walked out of my apartment and I locked it up.

Slipping the list I had from my pocket, I went to one of the pigeons perched on the railing and tied it to its leg, whispered the coordinates and it flew off.

"What was that?" Naruto looking over my shoulder when the bird took off,

"Oh just something I needed my people to know, no worries" Turning towards the stairway, Naruto and I made our way down and out.

Deciding to walk, we once again discussed what we are going to do today and I reminded Naruto that he had to finish with the exercise before we move on. With the quietness of the early morning and seeing some of our classmates walking, we waved and chatted about what class is about today.

Once again we got to the academy early but this time nobody is waiting, what a relief that is as I didn't want to see the pink and platinum hairs so early in the morning…again, telling us to remember our agreement. Walking up the steps to the front entrance, we were about to go in when we heard the calling of someone and so we turned to see Kiba running and waving at us enthusiastic so early in the morning.

"Good morning you two" stopping at the bottom of the steps, he bend over to catch his breath and we chuckled, "Good morning Kiba" we said in unison as Kiba stepped up to us.

"You guys just got here? (We nodded) Cool, I thought I was late when my alarm failed to go off this morning and had to rush to get here. Hey, nice threads, Naruto, I like the colors" he twirled his little finger at Naruto and he complied.

"Thanks, Roxanne threw them at me when I came by this morning; she even fixed my hair too"

"She threw them at you?" Kiba smiled at me in a playful kind of way.

"I had to, Naruto was going to wear the same thing twice and I just can't have that, plus I really wanted Naruto's colors to coordinate with my colors, is that too much to ask?" I smiled as they both shared a look and answer together: "Yes"

We laughed and went inside to go to class but as we neared it, we once again heard yelling and shrieking that we can only assume can be the girls fighting again for the spot next to Sasuke.

"Ugh, not again" Kiba covered his ears as we got closer. Pushing the door open, revealed that same thing as yesterday: most the fan club of Sasuke's groupies standing around next to Sasuke, whom looks miserable if his head on the desk is anything to go by, arguing who sits where this time.

As we walked in, the noise didn't ceased but we did caught the attention of Sasuke and he actually jumped over the desks and came to us, the noised then stopped as the girls looked surprised that Sasuke actually came over to us.

"Good morning Roxanne (I nodded) Good morning Naruto (He nodded) and good morning Kiba (waved from the back), how are you all this morning?" bring his hands behind his back and smiled at us all in which further shocked the girls at Sasuke's politeness to not only me but Naruto and Kiba as well.

"Well (the boys were too tongue tied to speak) we were doing just fine, until we heard all the racket going on in here" as I answered, my tail decided to unwrap itself from my waist and started to sway lazily behind me.

"Yes, I must apologize for that since they are fighting once again in regard to who get to sit beside me. Very annoying if you ask me" Naruto snorted at this and smirked.

"I bet" Kiba and I smiled at this.

"Well I was hoping that today I can sit with you and Naruto, so no one has to put up with this ordeal, especially with those who have advanced hearing and are cringing as much as I am" Now this got the attention of every single person in the entire class and the silence was really deafening .

"Sorry Sasuke buddy (Kiba came around and slung an arm around Sasuke's shoulders) but I already asked if I could and they agreed, so better luck next time" Thank the gods that Kiba woke up on the right side of the bed so come up with that shit in mere seconds.

"Yeah, maybe next time Sasuke" I said and patted him on his arm as we three walked by to go to our seats at the top.

"I'll hold you to that, Roxanne" He laid his hand over mine when I am just about to slip it off him and so stopped as we stared at each other.

"It isn't a promise though" I smiled as I slipped my hand away and started up the steps.

Silence, except for Naruto and Kiba's sniggering, is still in the air as I sat down on my seat and Sasuke went back to his. Silence kept playing a key role, even when Iruka-sensei came in and said good morning. We three said it back but everyone else is still quiet, so Iruka quirked an eyebrow in confusion at the state of his class. Taking advantage of the confusing quietness, Iruka started to write notes on the blackboard and those that are not in a small state of shock, mainly us 4, started writing down the notes. So when we all were finished, the rest of the class had yet to come out of it, so Iruka cleared his throat loudly that he got the attention of everyone else and told them to copy down what has been written. The girls that are fast enough and smart enough, took a quick leap over the desk and sat down next to Sasuke: browned and auburn haired girls, whom are smiling in triumph at their well-oiled plan. The rest of the girls frowned in disappointment at the fact none of them will be sitting in the hot seats next to Sasuke and went to find their own place to wallow in misery.

Class this morning is a quiet affair as Iruka talked about the fighting styles that every nation has, if not then every other village has. I found it fascinating as I have been to some of the villages in all 5 nations and put in my 2 cents when Iruka mentions a fighting style in a pacific village. Kiba and Naruto were in awe at the fact I have been to many villages, far and wide, hot and cold climates and even the mountains. Iruka even asks what the cultures are like or the language differences from one place to the other. It is a quiet event in class as everyone listens intently at the different stories for each place I've been at and in amazement at the different sorts of training some places practice.

This went well on to lunch period when the bell rang and Iruka dismissed us for lunch, but asked me to stay behind for a second, so I waved Naruto and Kiba away and told them to wait for me outside.

"Yes, Iruka-sensei" Standing by his desk as he shuffled papers here and there.

"Roxanne, I find it amazing that someone your age has been in many places that an adult twice your age has yet to go to. If it's possible and not a hassle, could you maybe show some of the fighting styles later on in the coming week for class when we head out for practice? Just a few" I smiled at the praise and recognition of my earlier description of many fighting styles I've learned over the years. And so with my tail swishing behind me in joyful movements, I told Iruka I'd be more than happy to show the class.

Heading out the doors, Kiba, Naruto, Shika, and Choji waited for me and right away Naruto asked what Iruka wanted whereas Kiba asked if I got in trouble for some reason.

"Heck no, Iruka just asked if I could show the class come moves when we head out for practice in the following week." walking away from the building, both Naruto and Kiba came to my sides and the other 2 followed behind.

"Really, awesome, so what are you going to be showing us? Is it going to good, I know it's going to be good if it's you showing us since we've been training together and I've learned a lot so far" That rambling got the attention of Kiba.

"What sort of training have you been going?"

"Well, right now Roxanne is showing me some cool chakra control exercises since I need to know the basics and today after school, I'll be continuing what I didn't finish and Roxanne will be doing what she was doing" Smiling a big grin at Kiba as he said that I'm teaching him.

Walking through town, the 5 of us discussed where to eat and once again I told Naruto that I have to try other things and ramen can wait until tomorrow since it's the weekend and have all the time in the world to try it. Naruto pouted for a bit before I slung an arm around his shoulders and Kiba missed up his hair and we all laughed as Naruto swatted away Kiba's hand.

Deciding on a quiet place that serves good sandwiches, we picked a table and the waitress came by with water and menus.

After a good hour of chit chat, good food and nice music, we decided to head back to the academy. Kiba and Naruto took the front, leading, Shika and Choji walking behind them and watching the clouds above, and me walking behind them, just enjoying the good day we had so far…that is until I felt someone start walking side with me. I turned my head and see Sasuke walking like he's been there the whole time.

"Hello Sasuke" I could see ears perk at the name

"Hello Roxanne, had a lovely lunch?" Hand behind his back like a gentleman as we walked.

"Yes, in fact we did, thank you for asking. How was yours?"

"It was ok at first…until the girls crashed it and I had to leave very quickly. Do you see any around?" Looking around to see if he could catch a glimpse of giggling girls, he failed to notice the sniggering of the duo in front.

"At the moment I don't, they are probably waiting patiently by the entrance of the academy for you and so you must find an alternate entrance if you feel the need to slip by them" Now Shika is smirking.

"Hmm, maybe you're right. So why did Iruka-sensei asked for you before lunch?" Change the subject so easily that I smiled at him.

"Oh, he just wanted to know if I can show the class a thing or two about a thing or two (The front laughed) and I told him yes, so when we head out for practice later in the upcoming week you'll see what I mean" Smirking at my laughable comment, we walked in silence to the academy.

To say that the girls were upset would be an understatement of the century: they were furious. When we all walked in 2 at a time with Sasuke and I in the back, the girls first asked Naruto and Kiba if they have seen Sasuke and like good little kidders that they are, they said they didn't, and with a very obvious innocent act they did. Next they asked Shika and Choji who just grunted and shook their heads. But as they turn to ask the next set, they froze at the scene that is me and Sasuke laughing about a joke he said. First they froze at the sight of a laughing Sasuke then that turned to rage/fury when I put my hand on his shoulder to keep from falling over in laughter. When we calmed down, I felt the largest killing intent that I haven't felt before and it's directed at me, so I looked to where it's coming from and saw 9 girls glaring daggers at me and clutching their fist at their sides, with big pulsing veins on their foreheads.

"Oh, well nice chatting with you but your _girlfriend_ is here so I'll be on my way" at the girlfriend comment, the girl's rage dissipated and they gushed in giggles and blushes but that didn't last long as they again started to argued who was his girlfriend. Slipping right by them, I ran up the steps and told the boys that this time they might actually fight to be labeled as Sasuke's girlfriend. So we watched patiently as the arguments turn from a regular disagreement to a full blown scream fest, then came the pushing.

A series of **"I am", "No I am"** back and forth between all the girls until pinky pushed platinum and she pushed back, who ended up being pushed into a set of other girls arguing: Then all hell broke loose.

Hair pulling, screaming, biting, punching and kicking of assorted limbs and colors are flying as us guys, and me, started cheering and chanting: **fight, fight, fight!** Poor Sasuke had to be in the middle of all this assault and started being pulled from one set of girls to the other like a tug of war game.

The commotion got the attention of the other classes and so we got an audience in our doorways that are also chanting loudly. Sadly though, it all ended too quickly when Iruka-sensei came barging through the crowd with other sensei's and pulled each girl off each other until every one of them are standing away from each other with a different sensei. Poor Sasuke, he looks worn out from all the pulling and grabbing that he leaned against Iruka for support. The girls however are worse for wear, with their hair in disarray, bumps and bruises everywhere, scratch marks on their arms and some had bits of hair tangled in their hands.

"Now that we all calmed down, will someone PLEASE tell me what this is all about?" As soon as Iruka finished that sentence all the girls started talking at the same time and once again Iruka had to shush them.

We three at the top sniggered behind our hands and low five each other under the desk, we are all happy with the outcome: the cat fight of epic proportion. Unfortunately, Iruka saw and pointed at us:

"You three care to explain what happen, as I know you were around when it happened" Naruto and Kiba looked at each other, and shrugged at the teacher. I sighed in boredom and stood up from my seat.

"Well Iruka-Sensei, it went like this: Naruto, Kiba, Shika, Choji, Sasuke, and I came to class in a merry mood. Naruto and Kiba were ahead of us in the group, Shika and Choji were next, and Sasuke and I came into class last. The girls (I pointed to) were awaiting Sasuke's arrival and asked each and every one of our little group if they had seen their beloved. Naturally they answered they haven't and moved along. Only when we, Sasuke and I, came through the classroom door, laughing about a joke he said, the girls froze with shock at his laughter and my close proximity of their beloved. So anyways I felt an intent to kill directed right at me, so I, being well witted, said that now that his 'girlfriend' is here, I'll be on my way. My guess is that little comment set them off in a heated discussion on who is his 'rightful' girlfriend. A heated discussion became physical discussion and physical became a well-played game of tug of war of Sasuke arms. As you can see, we are not really at fault here when the prosecution lies in the group of girls that this class has and the casualty is their precious Sasuke, who looks like he might need to go see the nurse for his face is turning a shade of green. Just my opinion right now but I'll say the majority of class has put up with the embarrassment long enough as now we, the class, are most likely the laughing stock of the academy thanks to these girls and their pity jealousy and obsession of the young Uchiha when it's obvious to everyone else that he find every single female annoying thanks to these girls. I will not be surprised if he turns curve because of these little girls obsession. ** BUT** I will admit I was amused by their cat fight: I was awaiting it since my first day of classes, thank you" I bowed and sat back down as Naruto and Kiba tried to stifle their upcoming laugh but the clapping could not be stopped as everyone else stood and gave a standing ovation at my speech. Standing back up, I bowed in every direction and that's when Naruto and Kiba laugh out loud.

The girls looked really embarrassed and ashamed that they went as far as to hurt Sasuke and each other in their pity squabbles. Apologizing to everyone in class, each other and to Sasuke, they set on helping each other with their hair and offered to help with bringing Sasuke to the nurse's office but Iruka declined.

"Sorry girls but you have done enough to him, so just find a seat and think about the damage you have done while I bring Sasuke to the nurse. Everyone else that is not from my class, please make your way back and thanks you sensei's for helping out, we really appreciate it" They nodded and hauled everyone else out and back to their original classes. The girls each took a different seat, away from where Sasuke sits and started talking quietly, except for Pinky and platinum who came up to our level and so we three turned towards them as they bowed in apology.

"We are sorry that we let our fixation with Sasuke get way too far and in doing so have let everyone else down. We are also sorry for letting you distance yourself from Sasuke when he clearly wants to be friends. So we (Pinky gestured to herself and the blonde) would like this opportunity to restart in our introduction and welcome you to this class. My name is Sakura and this is Ino, nice to meet you" Hands out to me; I stood up and shook each one.

"Finally, I was wondering when this is going to happen, Nice to meet you Sakura, Ino. My name is Roxanne and I accept your apology" They smiled at my acceptance and we all chatted about different topics while Iruka is out, letting a brand new way of life in class as the girls finality in their obsession with Sasuke ended with a bang…hopefully.

_**Reviews are welcomed in any form or sense, as long as you read my story and give your 2 cents about it, Thanks!**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing except my name

Author's note: Enjoy because I MIGHT not update until sometime during the week….if my trainings don't get in the way. Also my spelling for the title of this chapter might be wrong BUT whatever, Anyways ENJOY!

Splashapaloosa

Iruka eventually came back to a sort of quiet classroom as most of us were just chatting. Kiba, Naruto, Sakura, Ino and I just happen to be playing a card game, no money involved and are having a good, quiet time, chatting and making fun. Standing in the doorway, Iruka smiled at his class and after a good minute, he clapped his hands for attention.

"Alright class, I can see that nobody killed anybody and it's unusually quiet, which I like but we do still have a bit of time left of class, so let's get to it" Walking to the front where the board is, Iruka started writing while everyone else got to a seat but stopped as someone cleared their throat.

"Um Iruka-sensei, where's Sasuke?" Sakura asked from her place in front of our desk as Ino nodded along.

"Well after what happen and what I told the nurse, she thought it is a good idea if Sasuke left for the day to rest after the ordeal that happen earlier" Turning back to writing some more but again someone else interrupted.

"Is he ok?" Ino asked in a concern tone.

"Yeah, he's ok, just that the nurse recommended that he'd head home instead, don't worry girls, he's just fine" Iruka kept writing on the board. Ino and Sakura shared a look before nodding in a silent agreement.

"I bet he is after being pulled like a taffy candy" I whispered to Naruto who smiled at my comment.

Wasn't long before the dismissal bell rang and as we three head out the front, we felt a breeze whip by us as we see the trails of the two girls running to the left of us. I looked on in the direction they were going and wondered if they are heading where I think they are heading. Stopping at the bottom of the steps, I closed my eyes and concentrated really hard.

You see, boys and girls, I have this thing that if I focus hard enough on looking for a specific signature, then I'll be able to tell where that person is, but only within a precise radius.

So I did just that and sensed for Sasuke's chakra. I felt Naruto stop bedsides me but I kept concentrating on where to look with my senses. As luck would have it, Sasuke is within a good radius and could even sense that Sakura and Ino **ARE** on their way there. Ugh! So much for ending an obsession, anyways moving on:

I shook my head and began walking again as Naruto took his spot beside me as did Kiba and pokes me on the arm.

"What did you do back there?"

"Oh just checking something when those girls ran by us" He nodded and Kiba hums a tune.

"So what's happening today with you two?" Akamaru head pops out of Kiba's hood and barks. I rubbed his head in greeting and answered.

"Well I guess the same as yesterday with Naruto working on his chakra control. For me though it'll be just a little bit of this and that is until I deemed it ready for Naruto to join" Kiba looks at me in confusion.

"You know Roxanne, you talk funny sometimes, like you're talking cryptic or in codes. But whatever, I'll be training with my sister and her dog this weekend, probably won't be seeing you guys until classes start again" A bark to confirm that statement, we turn to the little puppy and laughed.

Soon enough as we came in the busy late afternoon market place, we all hear the distinctive howl over the bustling and Kiba waves goodbye to us before running for it.

"Let's head to the training grounds instead of stopping at the apartment, we are already dressed for it so let's just get to it, ok?" Fist pumping the air, Naruto yelled out "Let's go then" and starts running like he is in a race or something. Laughing I chased after him through the crowds, up on the roofs and then flying in the air to land on our tree as we made the trip in less time than before.

Standing on the branch as before, I gestured for Naruto to go for it and he smiles as he turns around. "Watch this" Jumps backwards and twists around a couple times before flipping to land with his back to me. "Tada" He yells out to me "Beat that"

Shaking my head at his enthusiasm, I turn around like he did and flipped but kept my legs tucked in tightly as I rolled in the air until I came closer to the ground, where I lets go and land on my hands, instead of my feet. With my feet in the air, I left one hand and did a half cartwheel to right myself up, turning to Naruto's gaping expression that looks like a fish out of water. I laughed and closed his mouth with a finger, which snaps him out of it,

"That was freaking Awesome, I didn't know you could do that" He looked up to the tree as it that might give him the answer and looked back at me. An arm around his shoulders, I lead him away from the tree to the stream so we can start.

"When you are done this and one more exercise then we'll work on your body so you can be as strong as me to be able to land on any part of your body with great ease and stability. Now let's get you back in the water for this exercise while I'll be over there (pointing to a far off distance) working on my reflexes. Don't worry if you don't see me, I'll still be there but you just won't see me, ok" Naruto nodded his head and bends down to take his shoes off, puts it to the side away from the water and starts on his workout.

Making sure he is ok for now, I walked off to find a good area for my exercise that will include a lot of moving around and whatnots. Stopping a good 30 feet from where the stream is, I examined the area and nodded in approval. Bringing my hands up, I did a hand sign and a clone poofed to existence right in front of me, an exact copy of me, minus the tail. It started mimicking me in stretching and punching moves until I was ready, which is about the same time I decreased my chakra so if I were to hit something, then the impact won't be noticeable to other Shinobi's around the village, I don't want to cause a rakus and definitely don't want to cause a major fucking freaking out during my workout.

Stepping back a couple feet as my clone did the same, we both got into our fighting defensive stance and waited a good few seconds, like a signal to let us begin, which happens to be Naruto yelling obscenities loud enough for us to start.

With a clash of arm and leg against another set of limb, we both twisted and land kicks on each other in fast movement as the air around us shifted in a swirl of dust and leaves.

Block, block, kick, punch; spin kick with right hook and left uppercut. Same moves, same style but easy as a warm up for now.

15 minutes later, we both stood apart facing each other as our warm up finished and now can start on the actual exercise. Smirking at each other in unison, then bared our fangs, we sprang together and crashed into each other's shoulders with a loud thud. Right then, the clone got a mind of its own and started on attacking in different styles of all that we both knew. A kick to the shins followed by a hard punch to the chest, which got blocked and then a spin kick to my head but dodged that, which left me open to a double fist to the torso. That got the wind out of me for a good second but enough time to drop down to a crouch when another kick came to my head. A swift sweeping kick of my own, my clone dropped on its back but flipped itself over when my leg is about to come down on it. Both of us getting up, we circled one another and changed positions: me in offensive mode this time.

With a high leap over its head, I turned with a strong kick to the back of the clone but got air instead. Landing I punched to my right where I nearly got it by its head so I turned around quickly with a back hand and got blocked. Dropping down with a sweeping double kick and it went down by the second one. Jumping backwards, I stood a ways away with a smirk as the clone got up slowly with a smirk to match my own and we started all over again.

This went on for a long time, switching roles or mimicking each other, until layer of sweat came about our brows and the soreness of the hard hits came to attention. Only when my stomach growled, did I stopped this exercise with a double sided blade in the clones gut and it poofed away. Stashing away the blade in my ankle sheath in the inside of my Shinobi issues footwear that covers up the ankle higher, I stretched away the upcoming stiffness of my muscles and began my trek back to where the stream flowed.

To my surprise, when I got to the small clearing of the stream, I saw Naruto lying on his back with his hands behind his head, snoozing some Z's nearby on the grass and smiled as I thought that he looked so cute sleeping. I guess I took longer than I thought but the sun is still out, orange and purple skies tell me that it'll be heading to sleep soon, so I better wake up Naruto.

With quiet ease, I walked over to the sleeping Naruto and kneeled down next to his body, reaching out with my hand, I shook his arms. At first it didn't roused him, so I tried again and nothing. Now getting up, I did the only thing I could think of that WOULD wake him and be funny all the same since he is so close to the bank of the stream. Chakra lined feet, I walked on the water and crouched down to dip both my hands in to cup water in them. As fast as I could, I splashed 2 handfuls at Naruto's face and that got him shooting straight up and sputtering, turning around a full circle before setting his eyes on me, laughing my ass off at his reaction.

"Hahaha you-you should of seen your face. Hahaha" Bent over hand on my knees and laughing. But that got cut off when I felt a rough shove, making me fall sideways in the shallow water.

**SPLASH**, drenched to the bone and this time Naruto Laughing his ass off rolling around on the bank.

"Hahaha YOU should see YOUR face right now, like a drowned cat. Hahaha" arm around his stomach rolling around close to the water, Naruto laughed hard when I sat up and my hair sticking to my head.

"Oh, two can play this game, sweetie" I reached over and pulled, HARD, on Naruto's ankle into the water until he slid in the stream as he too got soaked and spitting out water.

Laughing once again when Naruto turn to me with his hair plastered to his skull and I splashed water at him. This turned into an all-out water war between the two of us splashing each other and laughing as the sun's last rays fell on us.

Symphony of Howls

When we finally calmed down from our water fun, we both got out and just walked back to our apartment, trailing water behind us and people giving us weird looks but we ignored it with a smile at them. Stopping at a restaurant window, I made an order for delivery of sweet and sour ribs, fried rice and steamed veggies. Paid for it, gave them the address for delivery and we walked off, chatting about how Naruto did.

"You should have seen it Roxanne, it was amazing. I tried the way you showed me and at first I came in the water ankle deep like yesterday but then really focused on my chakra. The first few tries after that got easier and soon enough I was walking on water. Actually walking on water! Wow. Anyways I kept at it until I didn't even have to think of it but just do and it worked. But then I couldn't see, so I thought to myself that you are somewhere nearby and took a nap. That is until you splashed water all over me" We laughed at that and soon enough we were closing in on our building.

When we neared the steps, a cool breeze slipped by us that made us shiver to our core since we ARE still in our wet clothes. Running up the steps 2 at a time we got to my floor faster than we have before but Naruto didn't stop, he kept going and threw a 'be back in a few' over his should to me and disappeared upwards. I shrugged and went to my door, but before I could open it after unlocking it, something white caught my eyes.

Turning my head to where the pigeons perched on the railings, I saw a white rolled up piece of paper attached to one of it legs, looking right at me as if waiting for my presence. Swinging my door open, I walked the short length and held out my arm to the bird. Taking the hint, it hopped on my wrist and I lift it so I may see the little tube carrier where my note is. Slipping it out, I lowered my wrist for the bird to get off back onto the railing, said my thanks and went back towards my open door.

Kicking the door close with my feet, I rolled the little piece of paper around with my fingers, thinking of I should open it now or later.

Later will suffice as I am now dripping water on my floor near the door and feeling the chill again, I slipped off my footwear, left them by the door and made my way to the bathroom, dropping the rolled up paper on my bed for now.

A nice warm shower and warm clothes later, with slippers on and making hot tea in the kitchen, came a knock and I snapped my head to the sound before looking at my bed where the paper is. Dropping tea bags in the boiling kettle, I turned off the burner and walked fast yet quietly to my bed and stashing the paper in my hoody pocket. Turning to the door, I opened it and got the aroma of a life time: our dinner, warm and ready.

Tipping the delivery guy, I relieved him of the bundle and closed the door behind me as I went back in the kitchen and set down the food on the counter. Taking out each aluminum tray, I separated which is which and set out the plates and utensils. Going over to the fridge, I pulled out a pitcher of cold water, just in case.

As I am about to fill my plate, another series of knocks came from my front door and smile graced my features: Naruto's knock or the beginning of one. Setting down the plate, I went to the door and opened it, walking back to my plate in the kitchen. Letting himself in, Naruto then stop mid-step as the smell of dinner got to him and faster than I've seen him go, he had a plate already filled up and held a glass of water too before heading to the table and began eating, humming his approval of the food.

Shaking my head at Naruto, I checked the tea to see if it's ready, open the cupboard for 2 mugs and set those down by the kettle. As we stayed in comfortable silence, I poured tea in the mugs and left them there to cool while I got myself a plate and glass of water.

Finally to be able to have a seat, I started eating and Naruto just smiled at me when I sat down and every time he wiped his mouth with a napkin as I smile back at the specks of sauce on the corners of his mouth or on his chin: I didn't say anything throughout dinner.

Throwing out the trash, cleaning the dishes and hung my shoes in the bathroom, Naruto helped with the first two and when we finished, we grabbed our mugs of warm, not hot, tea and sat on my bed, looking out the window at the clear night sky and half of a full moon. It is kind of funny how we didn't talk but it's also familiar that we didn't need to. We just need the company of each other and that's all that needs to be said.

Having another cup and getting more comfortable leaning against the headboard, I asked Naruto to open the window so we can hear if there are any night time sounds. Opening it wide, Naruto sat back down near my feet, both of us listening for any noise and I looked up at the clock to see that it is well past 10 pm. Only when we were sipping did we hear our first sound: a long howl from the east side, an animal's howl. We both stood up at the same time and stand by the window, hoping it'll sound again.

**WOOOOOOO**, There is it again but this one is on the west side…weird.

"Maybe they are communicating with each other?" Naruto says looking to the recent howl.

"Hmm…maybe…" I say back, looking towards the east and then suddenly another howl but this time to the north.

Moving away from the window, I get a funny feeling…so nudged Naruto.

"Let's go up to the roof and get a better sound, ok?" He nodded and slips on his shoes while I kept my slippers on. Closing the door quietly behind me, I let Naruto lead the way as I don't really know the way. So climbing the stairs all the way to the top, the door creaked a bit when we opened it and we slipped through the opening so we won't make that much noise this late in the evening.

Walking near the edge of the roof, we sat down and let our legs dangle as we watched the stars above and listen intently for the howling…we weren't disappointed.

Again in the east, followed by the west and lastly the north: what the fuck is going on?

"This is weird…just weird…I think" Naruto got cut off by another set of howling but it sounded more like a human then an animal. We looked at each other in confusion but continued to listen. Then, a chorus a howling from both parties: human and animal, starting howling in rhythm.

"I think…they are…singing…together" I say listening closely and I say that the sound is starting to sound nice, like a symphony of different highs and lows keys of howling coming together.

"Hmm. Da da, da da, dum dum, da da" Gesturing his hand like he's orchestrating a musical and swaying with the rhythm. Chuckling at his antics, my tail unwraps itself and started swaying with Naruto's movement.

The howling went on for a good 20 minutes until the last of it when all of them gave one last long howl from high to low and ended. We clapped and yelled our appreciation for the good natured music. Getting back up, we stretch a bit and walked back to the opening, down the stairs and stopped on Naruto's floor.

"So tomorrow afternoon, we'll meet up at my place before we head out for training. We can sleep in since it is the weekend."

"Yeah, afternoon sounds great. Have a good night, Roxanne" Naruto waved a bit as I went down the steps and I return the gesture.

Getting to my door, I went in and sat on my bed for a bit while thinking we had a good day and night, heck, even a good night lullaby to make it better. Slipping off my hoody, I felt something in its pocket and remembered the little piece of paper I stashed before Naruto came.

Taking the paper out of my pocket, I unrolled it and it read:

'Dear Miss Roxanne, I am pleased to say that it's a pleasure hearing from you, twice within a week. So I like to say that we, your accountants, will be shopping for you so you won't have to. Don't worry, we know what you like. It might take a bit of time getting to you, so don't be surprised to see a bunch of things outside your door. Hope all is well with you and please keep in touch as we do love to hear from you. Pleasant day and Night and May the gods smile upon your life as I know your parents are. Sincerely, Rickard, Senior Accountant'

I smiled at the small note and rolled it back up and placed it in between my black notebook for safe keeping. Throwing the hoody near the 'closet' I got up and did my nightly routine of brushing my teeth and hair before heading to bed with a smile as I know tomorrow will be a good day to spend with Naruto.

A/N: The fight scene is my first at writing, so I hope its ok.

_**Reviews are welcomed in any form or sense, as long as you read my story and give your 2 cents about it, Thanks!**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing except my name

Author's note: Enjoy because I MIGHT not update until sometime during the week….if my trainings don't get in the way. Also my spelling might be a bit off but Anyways ENJOY!

Late Training Day

As wakefulness started creeping its way through my system, I continued to lay there in my warm bed even if I could see the light behind my eyelids coming through the window. Turning from my back to my stomach, I delayed the obvious just so I can enjoy it for a bit more and not have to do anything at the moment. Unfortunately my bladder had other ideas and so I just **HAD** to get up and use the bathroom to get rid of my discomfort.

Splashing cool water on my face afterwards, that woke me up more, and drying with a towel, I went to the main room and checked the time. 12:05 pm. Lunch hour on a Saturday afternoon sounds good to me as I open the window to let in the afternoon breeze and made my way to the kitchen to start on brunch, for my stomach had made itself known and I must have a good meal before I head out with Naruto.

Right in the middle of making scrambled eggs, bacon and toast, did I hear a series of knocks on my door and instead of going to the door, I just yelled out:

"It's bloody open, Naruto" then return to making sure that I don't burning my meal.

A large pan of scrambled eggs rivaled with many strips of bacon in another pan and finished with 6 slices of toast. What? I'm hungry and a girl gotta eat if she's going to be training most of the day.

Opening and closing of my door, Naruto stood nearby and inhaled the deep aroma of brunch, moaning his pleasure and licked his lips when he opens his eyes. I chuckled at him and as I put the pans to the side, I picked up a plate and handed it to Naruto.

"Go right ahead and grab some, I got enough for the both of us. And could you please grab the orange juice from the fridge and set it on the table while I get the cups, Thanks" Reaching up to the cupboard, I took out 2 glass cups at the same time Naruto rushed to the fridge and back to the table, putting down the pitcher and then standing next to me by the oven with his plate ready. I smiled at his quickness and scooped up a good amount of eggs for my own plate, along with bacon and 2 slice of toast. Naruto copied my actions and soon we both are sitting down on my table, pouring juice in both our glasses.

"So what time did you get up? I didn't hear anything until just a while ago which is why it took me a bit to get here" Naruto explained and rambled at the same time, revealing to me that he's been up longer than me and waiting patiently. How sweet is that?

"Well I did just get up and skip the shower time to make brunch, just a splash of water and brushed my teeth. What time did you get up?" Scooping up a forkful of eggs I started at Naruto before eating it. At first he didn't answer, just looked around my apartment as if he's never seen it before, and kept eating.

"Um…I got up about" the last part he mumbled so quietly that if I didn't have advance hearing I would have missed it completely.

"9? 9 o'clock in the morning on a weekend, you got up?" Naruto looked down at his plate and nodded with a blush creeping up on his cheeks. Setting my fork down on my plate, I reached and ruffled the blond head until Naruto actually looked up at me. I smiled and picked up my fork.

"No worries man, but for future reference, I wake up late on the weekends, well I try to. So next weekend, just get up late because there is a possibility that I'm still asleep. Ok?" He smiles a big smile my way and continues to eat his food.

Helping me with the dishes, Naruto dried them as I washed and by the time we finished it was half past 1. Putting the clean dishes away, I wiped my hands and Naruto hung the dish towel on the oven handle for them to dry. Turning to me, I finally gave notice to what Naruto is wearing today: it's not the clothes he wore yesterday but a different set of clothes I didn't lend him.

"Nice gear, where'd you get it from?" Walking to the 'closet' I pulled out another pair of shoes and sat on the bed to slip them on and also noticed a small bundle next to the door.

"Well since I was waiting for you this morning (He blushed at mentioning this) and I had nothing to do, so I started to clean up my apartment. Getting a laundry basket, I threw in my orange jumpsuit (I cringed at the mention of that jumpsuit) along with the clothes you lend me and while looking for my dirty laundry underneath the bed and other various places, I found some clothes that I have never worn before. It kind of confused me as to where I got it from but I thought as long as I have some clothes I can wash it and wear it when I get here, even brought the now clean clothes you lend me. So what do you think?" He twirled around a full circle for me and showed me that the gear happens to be a white hooded sleeveless V-neck shirt and grey cotton shorts. Walking over to him, I circle him as he twirled and then I walk backwards to the kitchen, stopping by the fridge.

"I like, so let's go and see how well you did the exercise yesterday before I interrupted" Throwing him a bottled water from the fridge, I closed the door after I grabbed myself one and came over to where Naruto is standing. Clapping Naruto on his back, he laughed at the memory and we both walked out the door to start on our late training session.

Jumping on our tree branch when we got to the training grounds, but this time, I didn't wait for anything and just jumped sideways in a cartwheel motion downwards. Arms and legs stretched out at first then balled my body up as I twist in different ways until I came so close to the ground that I could hear Naruto cry out for me to watch it. Only when I got a good 3 feet to the ground, my arms and legs came out and I landed like a spider on the ground on all fours. Getting up and dusting my hands, I looked up to the tree and see Naruto's jaw joining me on the ground, so I laughed. The laugh got him out of it long enough to figure out what to do for his jump.

With a smirk that could rival mine, he kicked upwards while jumping off the tree and spinning in the air on his sides like a log falling from above. I am impressed he is able to do that in the air…maybe his element is air like mine. Anyways Naruto landed on his right side with his arm and leg, but I could see it is straining him a bit and so Naruto fell backwards and landed on his back with a quiet thud.

Shaking my head at his failed attempt at landing, I walked over to him and sat on the ground beside him as he moaned his stupidity and rolled over on his stomach to lift himself up.

"What the heck was I thinking when I did that?" Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs I know are lingering in that mind of his, I slipped the bottled water from his pocket and open it for Naruto to have a sip. One gulp of cool water and sitting on his behind, Naruto glared up to the tree as if it's the tree fault that he didn't land well.

"Well I'm going to assume that you thought you'd be able to land gracefully like I did **WITHOUT** any hardcore training to back it up, so that's what you were thinking" I too looked up at the sky and I could literally feel the blushing on Naruto face as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, I guess that's what I thought" He laughed nervously and slowly got up to stand straight; I followed his lead but just smiled as we began walking to the stream. Standing along the side of the bank and for some reason Naruto won't look at me and I could see some tension in his form. My guess would be the embarrassment he felt for his earlier acrobatic fall out and so I broke the ice to let him know I don't think any less of him.

"So we just going to stand here until you grow a beard or what?"

Naruto laughed and finally let the tension go as he turned to me with a small smile,

"Thanks"

"Eh, no problem, bro. Now let's get the show on the damn road if you want to move on to your next 'assignment' and be all that you can be" Held out my fist and he bumped it with his. I stepped back to give the guy room to work and he did, so well, the hand signs along with concentrating but not as long as I thought it would take him to do. Soon he will be able to do things with a snap, but only when he keeps up with the exercise, which I only have one more to show him **THEN** come the hard part: excruciating training of the whole body.

Stepping into the water, Naruto slipped a bit but kept his ground, well footing is more like it, and put both feet on the water. Standing there like he's surprised and not me, I laughed and congratulated him on his awesome accomplishments. I did the same exercise and walked around Naruto with ease, while he still stood rooted on the spot.

"How come you are able to just do this (he gestured to his feet) without much thinking and I have to think really hard to keep afloat?" Hands on his hips and a pout on his lips just **HAD** to make him very cute instead of mad. So I shrugged with a smile on my face at his adorable stance and kept walking in circles

"Well Naruto, after you've been doing this for a long time, it just comes to you and when it's been a long time, it will come easier for you. So anyways, since you are done with this exercise, we can move on to the last one, well you not we and **ONLY** after that, we can start on your vigorous training of the body so what happen earlier won't hurt as much, Alright?"

Stepping off the water, I lead Naruto to a grassy field with wildflowers blooming here and there. The grass is just the right height, not too long but not too short and just enough for this little experiment I have planned for him. I just hope he'll finish as quickly as he did with the other ones because I'm running out of things to do by myself.

A little something new

"So what are we doing here?" He asks as we stand in the grassy field of what smells like fresh cut grass. Hmm I guess they keep parts of this place maintained so it doesn't overgrow too much for other trainers. Turning to him, I smiled a smile that clearly says I have a good kept secret hidden and am about to show you. Giving me a toothy grin himself, he stood waiting.

"You see Naruto, in my path of life before I came here to this village (He giggled at that); I found another village that has shown me something I'm not really sure of and not really sure if anybody else knows it because I sort of stumbled on to it. When I saw it and tried it, succeeding and yet had no idea what it is called. So I plucked up whatever guts I got and asked the monks what does this particular exercise entails. (Naruto looks at me confused at my wording and made me sigh) It means why is this exercise needed and so I was told that if I ever wanted to **NOT** leave a trail of foot prints after me or something similar then this is what I have to learn. Now let me tell you, it has helped me so many times and will help you too, especially if you were to pull the ultimate prank. Hahaha" See the excitement light up his sky blue eyes made me feel so warm knowing that what I just told is probably one of the best things anyone has yet to tell him and so I smiled at his enthusiasm.

"Really, like really, really? Is that possible and can I try it?" I nodded and that little gesture made him jump up in glee and whoop out loud.

"Alright, alright, calm down and listen for this last and final exercise is totally worth the test. It might take longer to do then the other 2 **BUT** it'll be something that only you and I know and no one else **UNLESS** they have knowledge of it way before we did. Now: you know how to channel your chakra to your feet evenly for the tree climbing, yes? (He nodded) and You know how to constantly let it flow on a moving surface (again he nodded) , which is awesome by the way (he blushed but smile nonetheless) So this one is a bit different because you have to use both at the same time but not on a moving surface or a solid one either. It's kind of hard to explain, so I'm going to have to show you first before I can go about explaining what is happening. Now just watch and speak what you see" At his last comment, Naruto looked at me very confused as to what I meant but I didn't have time to explain when tis' better to be shown then be said.

Breathing deeply, I send chakra to me feet in small portions and took a step forward. At first it didn't look any different when I stepped forward, that is until I kept walking, towards the taller grass and as I hear the gasp of utter shock, that became music to my ears for I knew that Naruto could see what I am doing.

"You-You're floating, you're floating! Whoa" I smacked my forehead at this but heard a thud so I'm going to assume Naruto sat down Hard as I kept walking around going from short to tall grasses.

"Uh-uh, nope, try again Naruto. Look closely this time please" I hear shuffling and footfalls coming closer but I kept walking around with my hands behind my back, like I'm strolling through a park or something.

"Umm, I don't really see anything else, Roxanne" Naruto says looking at my feet but not really looking as he failed to notice one key element of this exercise.

"Ok then, why don't you sit over there (I pointed to the right of me, couple feet) and just watch, closely, not only with your eyes but with all your senses including your mind. Ok?" "Ok" Naruto looked at me weird like what I said is weird in itself but who can blame him, I talk funny as Kiba so kindly pointed out yesterday.

Sitting on the grass underneath a tree for the shade, Naruto watched my feet but squinting at them or tilting his head or even closing one eye and looking with the other. I sighed as this **MIGHT** take a while for him to get the gist of but then again Naruto just might surprise me.

Strolling around, 'floating' as Naruto called, I walked by Naruto really close as he sits on the grass and I circled him a couple times and walked off but a loud gasp stopped me in my tracks. Turning I see Naruto looking intently at my feet and he lay down on his stomach as his head laid on the soft grass.

"I see it, I see it Roxanne!" exclaiming his excitement he sat up "I see what you mean; you are walking on top of the grass, like right on top without crushing anything. I didn't notice before but I do now. Your tracks: there is supposed to be tracks of where you stepped on the grass but there isn't any, nothing (looking around to where I've stepped before) That is an awesome thing to know and do, no tracks and no one the wiser. So how can you do this, how long it took you and when can I do it?" Stopping the flow a chakra to me feet with a thought, I walked over to Naruto and this time you could see where I've stepped.

"Ok, like I've mention earlier, I sort of stumbled onto it and got it in no time, so you saw what I did right? (He nodded) Good, you just have to let the chakra flow to your feet, **BUT** not too much or you'll just end up crushing the grass and ground. Not too little as it will not work. Try to find a way to combine the tree climbing technique with the water walking one. Use your chakra to stick on the grass but let it flow as the grass flows with the breeze like little ripples of water moving constantly. Something like that since I can't really explain it well but you've seen it so just combined that with what I've said. Ok?" Naruto had his hand under his chin, thinking of a way to try this but nodded nonetheless. "Great! Now you figure this out and I'll be over there working on my katas. I'll be back before the sun tries to go down" Absentminded Naruto waved me away as his mind began work; I smiled at his full concentration and waved back as I started walking off to a nearby area where I can work on my training.

SLAM! Right into a tree that shook to its core but I didn't have time to appreciate the sturdiness of the tree as my clones (yes, plural) jumped me from all side with a kick, punch or body slam. But being flexible does have its advantages: I grabbed the tree with my hands up above my head; I kicked up to help and am now up against the tree on my stomach and crawling backwards up towards the tree. I felt the impact of the hits on the tree from my clones missing me and once again didn't have time to praise the very sturdy tree for the clones jumped up towards me. Chakra lined feet I sprinted up to the top of the tree and waited: waited for the sudden grab or hit. I didn't have to wait long as one of them flew up by me and aimed a well-timed knee to my sides. The other tried to grab my feet to pull be down but I leaped from its hands. In midair I felt a swipe at my face but it missed as I twisted around after I landed a series of hits to another clone's back.

Landing on my two feet and turning around to give a good kick to the other two is when we all froze. Bringing my foot down, the clones disappeared and I jumped off the top to land on one of the branches below me and crouched down, expanding my senses to see what's happening.

Naruto is still working on his exercise in the same place I left him but I feel something out of place near him. Quicker than quick, I used the trees to make my silent way to where Naruto is.

Landing without a sound on a thick and long tree branch just high above Naruto, I see that he is trying his damn-est to get the training right and NOT paying attention to his surroundings like he should be. Too much concentration I suppose.

THERE! Right there far off to Naruto left, or my left, I see a black blue blur as if circling Naruto for a reason and I so don't like that someone decided to interrupt Naruto's session like that.

Again that blur came around but this time stayed hidden behind a thick tree that covered them well, for them but not for me. Quietly I jumped tree to tree until I'm almost directly above them however I could not see their face to identify them as the foliage covers them from me. They crouch in a ready to strike position and so did I. A second just before they are about to spring into action, I did and landed on the unidentified person. He fell with me on his back and we started to roll around trying to get the better of the other and that got the attention of Naruto.

"Hey!" he yelled and started running to us. I'm still on the guy's back and then I spring myself up as I quickly turned him on his back and I landed back down, facing him with a kunai to his throat. But my eyes widen as to who it is:

"Sasuke?"

A/N: My explanation of that last exercise might be confusing as I tried to explain it as best as I can but mentally and verbally is very different things but I have heard about it somewhere.

_**Reviews are welcomed in any form or sense, as long as you read my story and give your 2 cents about it, Thanks!**_


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing except for my original character and its name.

**Author's Note:** Finished my training but my imagination needs to reboot a bit longer then I hope it would be. Sorry it took so long to update but Nevertheless, Enjoy!

Revealed

Getting off the guy as he laid there staring right back at me with Naruto by my side staring at Sasuke in disbelief.

"What the fuck, Sasuke?" Putting my knife away and a hand to my hip, I stared at Sasuke with what I am assuming is a look of contempt.

"Well?"

Sasuke picked himself up and dusted off what little dust there is, to look at me and Naruto eye to eye.

"Um…Hi" Crossing his arms over his chest, Sasuke smirked at us as if he has the upper hand in this funny situation. Naruto and I scoffed at him and his greeting,

"That doesn't answer my damn question, Uchiha! What the fuck are you doing sneaking around behind Naruto's back as if you were going to attack him? Huh?" Sasuke actually flinched when I call his surname as I brought up my other hand to my hip and Naruto crossing his arms with a smug expression that didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke.

Giving Naruto a good small glare, Sasuke turned to me as he uncrossed his arms and put them in this shorts pocket.

"I was looking for you" …That's it?

"Still doesn't answer my question, you know?" Tapping my foot down on the ground to show that I am waiting and Sasuke didn't miss a beat of it.

"I came looking for you and found Naruto instead. So I thought if anyone knew where you are then Naruto would" Bringing his hand behind him and rolled on the balls of his feet, Sasuke smiled.

"So what, you were going to jump him and demand some answers? I saw you getting ready to spring out from behind that tree (I pointed to where I meant) and so don't try to bend the truth because I can tell if you are" sighing in exasperation at the unwillingness of one Sasuke Uchiha, I looked at Naruto who smiled at me and I clapped him on his back.

"You know what? Forget it, we don't have time for this but if you try to jump Naruto again, hell even think of jumping him, I won't hesitate to bring your ass down and maybe rub dirt in your eyes just so you will get the message: leave Naruto alone. He's with me and that's all you need to know. Come on Naruto, you're still training and our break is over. Bye Sasuke" Waving over our shoulders, Naruto and I started to walk off, to look for a different grassy area, when someone yelled or squeaked:

"Wait!" We stopped.

We both turned around as Sasuke caught up with us and we both raised an eyebrow in question.

"I want to apologize for my attempt at trying to get answers from Naruto and also trying to jump him. I'm sorry Naruto and Roxanne for my behavior" Even gave a little bow to complete the apology. I sneaked a glance to Naruto's expression and I see his jaw dropped as no words came out of it. I nudged him and spoke.

"Never thought you'd see the day when Sasuke Uchiha apologizes to Naruto Uzamaki, eh?" He shook his head.

"Alright, alright, you're forgiven. Quit groveling but try that again and we'll have a good _**long**_ chat, ok?" Sasuke smiled brightly and nodded. Right then Naruto snapped out of it and scratched the back of his head to ask a question

"So what were you doing looking for Roxanne? I mean we are like far from any regular training areas and farer from the population of the village, what's going on? Also aren't you like injured? And why are you out if you're hurt?" Naruto hand slipped down from his head and started swinging his arms by his sides in an attempt to keep from fidgeting too much but that didn't stop him from rambling_. 'Hmm'_ I thought as I looked at Naruto but waited for an answer for his question.

Sasuke smiled at Naruto's nervousness and rambling thoughts, I guess that's what it is, and shook his head.

"I was looking for Roxanne because I wanted to know if she wanted to hang out today but only now I could find her. I've been looking since early his morning" I scoffed and crossed my arms.

"You're just like Naruto (They looked at each other then back at me) you guys **DO** realize it's the weekend, right? Well **MOST** people sleep in on the weekends as do I and next time, just sleep in like regular people do so you're well rested for some ass kicking" I chuckled at this and started walking off by myself.

"Anyways today and tomorrow is Naruto's so catch me on Monday to see if I'm busy, ok? Now run along, I want Naruto to finish and IF you want Naruto to finish, then I suggest you leave now and do not disturb" Turned around while walking backwards, I gave a small waved and turn back around.

"Better luck next time, eh Sasuke?" Naruto waved also and jog to catch up with me.

"Monday" Sasuke yelled out behind us and I waved dismissively at him.

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Passing our previous area, I looked around and Naruto keep scratching his head in thought.

"Well that was a surprise if I ever saw one: Sasuke looking for you. I wonder why he's so intent in wanting to hang out with you so much" Naruto pondered out loud and I looked at him in a bit of shock. _'Is he really this naive about what Sasuke's intention are?'_ shaking my head at this, I threw the thought of Sasuke out of my mind and only on Naruto's and mine's training.

Finding a different meadow of flowers and many different lengths of grass, I clapped Naruto on the back to get his attention.

"Naruto, forget about it and get back to your exercise. This time I'll be closer so there will be no surprises for either of us" He nodded and began while I walked off a bit to his right to an open space of a sandy area. Taking a deep breath, 2 clones of mine sprang up and attacked before they even touched the ground.

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'_He's watching you; he's watching every move you make and all he can do besides look is dropping his jaw to the ground. Won't be the first time they've dropped their jaws at your flawless talent of fighting. It's like dancing, with the footing and the arms moving a certain way that would put a ballerina to shame if they saw you. Why isn't he working on his exercise? Because the second you started, he stopped to gawk and admire the work that is being displayed right before his eyes so he can't really turn away. And this is why I practice alone'_ After the first few minutes of him standing in the same place I left him, Naruto dropped to the ground on his knees and just watched the entire time I've been practicing, which was like 2 hours ago and the sun is about to go down.

I ignored Naruto's presence in favor of practicing with my clones and if I don't concentrate then I'll be in a world of pain.

Kick, kick, left hook, kick, block, right hook, kick, block, kick, upper cut and flip: land quickly on one foot, then push off the ground with the other and then in midair, I spin kick both the clones head.

When mine and the clone's shadow had shadows of their own, is when I decided to slow down from fighting my clones to practicing katas with them and so started to cool down from the hard work we had done. Breathing slowly and with eyes close, I relaxed to a state of calmness while listening to the forest around us. It helped.

The last round of katas, my clones popped out of existence and as I came to a stop, my back to Naruto, I open my eyes to look upon the setting sun in all its glorious colors.

Before I could turn around, I heard clapping: Clapping!

Fully turning around, I see Naruto clapping for all his worth and smiling brightly in my direction. I rose an eyebrow in question to Naruto's applaud as he walked towards me still clapping and he didn't miss a thing as he answered.

"Wow, like totally wow with a shot of Awesome and a spread of Beautiful all over it. Roxanne, that must have been the **BEST** performance I have yet to see and I didn't see much of fighting performance in my lifetime but the way you moved and blocked and fought just took my breath away. It was Beautiful" Whoa!

I so didn't expect this praise from Naruto, well I didn't really expect anything to be honest but Naruto does know how to compliment very well.

"Thank you Naruto. Now let's get outta here before it gets too dark" Going to him, I slung an arm around his shoulders as we began our walk back to the village.

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(AN: page break or new chapter cut off thingy here)

Plan

The weekend was uneventful except for Naruto who had to yet to perfect his grass walking technique and just to make sure that he does it, I left a clone to watch over him while I kept up my practice.

Monday rolled around quickly and with all the practicing, I got up late but not late enough for Naruto to excessively knock on my door at the same time as last week. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I got up from my comfortable bed and went to the door to open it for Naruto.

"You're still asleep?" I gave him a _'duh'_ look before he came in and I shut the door behind him.

"I'll be a minute, just need to splash water on my face and you can make some sandwiches while I'm do that" Going to my 'closet' , I pulled out a set of clothes and made my way to the bathroom to change and get ready.

5 minutes later and freshly done my morning routine as quickly as I can, I came back out to the main room to find Naruto sitting at the table and munching on a sandwich in which he made and so I sat down to have one while looking at Naruto.

"You need a new set of clothes for today?" his attire consists of a black sleeveless shirt and white shorts.

"Nah, I'm good. It's warm outside so this will do" I nodded and continued eating.

Downing a glass of Orange juice that Naruto made, I stood up and so did Naruto.

"Ready for another day of classes" He nodded and so we took off so we won't be late.

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Jumping the roof tops, we got to the academy in 10 minutes and saw Kiba waiting by the entrance.

"Finally, I thought you all slept in or something" Getting up from his sitting on the steps, Kiba patted Naruto in greetings.

"Well Roxanne slept in and so I had to wake her up" Naruto smiled while Kiba looked at me.

"Whatever, we're here and ready for classes aren't we?"

"Yeah sure, so what are you guys doing later on?" Naruto and I both shrugged in response.

"OK, I was thinking maybe we could hang out today, you know, just to chillax since I had tough weekend training with my sister. Maybe a snack and a movie" Kiba lead the way while talking and I had this little inkling in the back of my head that I feel like I have forgotten something but shrugged it away.

"Yeah, sounds alright for me, I need a day off practice and I think Naruto needs one too" Naruto nodded enthusiastically.

"Cool, then we'll head out right after school is out" a chorus a _'yes'_ and we got to class.

It was surprising to say the least that this time no girls were screaming in argument or fighting for the seat next to Sasuke, who is sitting alone on his row. When he saw us, Sasuke smiled and waved as we waved back and made our way up the steps.

"Alright class, good morning. (Everyone greeted loudly) So today we will have a special treat for you this afternoon during our outside practice but you will have to wait and see" Both Kiba and Naruto patted me on the back along with Shika and Choji smiling at me knowing that what Iruka meant was about me.

"Now though, you all can just take out your books and we will begin today's lesson on the history of Konoha"

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With the lessons we are learning in the morning, recess came rather quickly and everyone filed out to the fresh warm morning air. The girls all followed Sasuke out but kept their distance as to not bring him much stress due to what had happen before the weekend. They may have kept their distance but their words of apology; cooing and goo-goo eyes did not. Girls, I'll never figure them out and I'm a girl.

We three rolled our eyes as Shika and Choji grabbed 4 mitts for us to play catch during our free time. Choji sat down nearby munching on his chips and watching us throw the ball around, while I un-wrap my tail to let it move behind me freely.

"So how was your weekend, you two?" Shika addressed Naruto and I. I spoke quickly before Naruto could.

"It was ok, then Sasuke showed up out of nowhere to jump Naruto's bones, if you catch my drift" I wiggled my brows at Shika and made Naruto blush so hard that he's sputtering nonsense.

"Really now, is that right Naruto? Did Sasuke Uchiha jump your bones under the watchful eyes of Roxanne here?" Kiba smirked in a leering kind of way and Naruto is still sputtering.

"Yea you should have seen it, Naruto is all rambling and Sasuke is all understanding of his nervousness because he was standing so close to Naruto" I winked at Naruto and he's still sputtering.

"Really, I didn't know Naruto and Sasuke were like that but then again opposites attracts" Shika played along and threw the ball to me.

Finally Naruto untied his tongue and started flinging his arms wildly around above his head.

"No, No, NO! Nothing happen. Nothing at all, Sasuke showed up and he just wanted to know where Roxanne was and there was NO Jumping of my Bones!" Naruto literally yelled and that ignited our laughing. We laughed so hard and Naruto blushed so hard that we started again in a new fits of laughter.

After about 10 minutes, we all finally calmed down and patted Naruto on his back.

"We were just kidding around Naruto but you should of seen how red your face became" Kiba laughed again.

Shika recover quickly and asked how Naruto's weekend was.

"It was great, awesome even but a bit straining and so we are just going to relax today" Naruto throws the ball to Kiba.

"Yea, us three are going to chill out after school, want to come?" Shika is in the motion of shaking his head to decline when Sasuke interrupted.

"Wait a Damn Minute!" gasps from the girls nearby to eavesdrop on what Sasuke is about to say.

"I thought You Promised that we hang out today" He pointed at me. _'Hmm, he sounds angry'_ throwing the ball to Shika, I turned to Sasuke.

"I **SAID 'IF** I wasn't busy and for you to catch me Monday'. It's Monday and you weren't around to ask me as early as Kiba did, so really it's your fault for not waiting for us outside at the entrance this morning " Catching the ball while still staring at Sasuke, I threw it at Kiba.

"Yea, well, you promised that we hang out even before then. I…" I held out my hand to silence Sasuke, whom glared at me something fierce.

"Sasuke, never have I uttered the words 'I Promise' within the vicinity of your location and so didn't break any delusional promises you mistakenly thought I made. Today I will be hanging out with Naruto and Kiba, and there is nothing you can do to stop me" The bell rang to signal our time is up for recess.

"Come on, guys, lets head inside" Turning my back to Sasuke, I tried to follow the guys to the entrance and what happen next I so didn't expect.

"Hey, I'm still talking to you!" Sasuke exclaimed in anger, and seeing my tail wave around in front of him, Sasuke grabbed for it to get my attention and yanked. **HARD!**

Excruciating amount of **PAIN** shot up and down my spine while I froze up from the intensity of it, pain pounded in my head, to my ears and my back. Next thing I knew, I'm meeting up with the ground and could vaguely hear Naruto shouting my name, swearing at Sasuke's stupidity and yelling out for help from Iruka-sensei. Before the darkness and unconsciousness came, the last thing I heard is Naruto's voice saying I'll be alright.

**Review and commenting is appreciated.**


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING but my character

Author's note: I want to thank those that have reviewed and given positive ones.

Bitter wakefulness

Waking up to consciousness, I felt a numbing pain on my back that intensified whenever I made the slightest move, and lying on my stomach as to not put pressure on my backside. I have no idea where I am and how long I've been there. My eyes are still close but by the sounds of birds singing and the brightness behind my eyelids, I can tell its morning and that gave me a headache that might turn into a migraine. I moved a bit but it hurt more to do so and tried to move my hands instead.

One hand I could move but the other is confined in a grip, someone else's iron grip. Turning my head to my right, I slowly tried to open my eyes but the brightness along with the headache and who knows how long I've been out of it, kind of made it difficult to open them.

Slowly yet surely I open my eyes a crack to see a blonde head next to mine: Naruto. I smiled knowing Naruto is here and I felt calm but then a shot of pain came and went shooting up and down my spine. Feeling that shot, I unconsciously squeezed Naruto hand and it woke him up right away.

"Roxanne?" his voice sounds hoarse and unused but I smiled weakly. Then another shot of pain came and I squeezed Naruto's hand tightly.

"What's wrong?" Sitting up but not letting go of my hand, Naruto asked in concern.

"Hurts" is all I could manage say, closing my eyes tightly as I feel another strike go up my spine.

"Nurse, Nurse, hurry up, she's awake and she's in pain!" Naruto yelled out to where I assume is the hallway of the hospital and soon I could hear footsteps running to us.

A buzz of noise filled the room as nurses and doctors did their work now that I am awake but hurting. Asking me questions on where it hurts the most and whatnots. I whispered to Naruto, who is surprisingly still holding my hand, that the most pain I feel is on my back, near my tail area.

"Miss Roxanne, I am going to give you something for the pain and it might put you back to sleep. Is that alright?" The doctor asked and I nodded.

I felt a small sting on my thigh and then the pain immediately went away, soon my eyes started to get heavy and Naruto squeezed my hand.

"Don't worry Roxanne. I'll still be here when you wake up, just try to get better" Than once again, darkness came for me but this time I had a smile now that I know Naruto is here.

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When I awoke again, this time it is darker than earlier and so I assume it is night time. This time though, it didn't hurt to open my eyes and when I did, I saw Naruto's blonde locks in my face.

I tried to move by turning my head: it didn't hurt.

I tried to move my arm that is not occupied by Naruto's hand: it didn't hurt.

I tried to push myself up so I am now leaning down on my one arm: A small sting but not much pain.

I breathe a sigh a relief to know that my body is once well again and moved so now I am lying on my side, facing Naruto who is still sleeping holding my hand. I smiled and started to run my free hand through his softy hair. He made a sound and turned his head the other way. I grunted in amusement and that got Naruto shooting up from his sleeping position. Looking at me with wide eyes and searching my whole body to make sure I'm ok. Squeezing his hand, Naruto looked back at me with unshed tears and smiled weakly.

"You scared me, Roxanne" I brought my hand to his face and held him.

"I know, I scared myself but I feel better now. Thank you for staying with me" With my hand holding his face, I moved him closer and kissed his forehead, then nuzzled him. A small rumble sounded from his chest that reminded me of a purr. So I purred back. Naruto moved his head and stared at me in question for the purring. I just smiled and shook my head, than tried to sit up while still holding onto Naruto's hand.

"How long was I out for?" Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I look around my hospital room to see that it's just a standard room with two beds.

"Three days" My head snapped at Naruto's response.

"Three days?" He nodded.

Oh My Fucking Goddess. Three days I've been out of it and all because of a stupid, emo, girly guy who thinks I have to hang out with him. That made me growl loudly and I started shaking with repressed anger at that one person. Feeling Naruto squeeze my hand, I turn to him to see he's looking at me with a mix of fear and concern, so I tried to calm myself down.

"Don't worry, Naruto. It's not regarding you. That asshole did this to me" I let go of Naruto hand and slipped down to stand on my feet. Wobbling a bit but stood nonetheless, I tried to stretch out the kinks I could feel in my bones and I really needed to move around. Three days…I shook my head.

"Should I call the nurse, just to make sure you're really ok?" Sitting on his seat, Naruto watched as I walked around like I haven't been bed ridden for three days.

"Yeah, I hope they say I can go after they finish" Naruto then went to the door and yelled out for the nurse.

Once again a rush of footsteps came and when they saw me standing by the window, they were gob smacked as to how quickly I could be up and moving. The doctor cleared his throat for my attention.

"Miss Roxanne, I see you are feeling well. May I do an evaluation just to make sure?" I nodded and came back to the bed.

The nurses filed in and started their work. One nurse in front of me is checking my vitals, another one helping the doctor behind me, while he poked and prodded my back side, and the last one checking my blood pressure. Throughout this whole little fiasco, Naruto sat back against the wall watching me with a small smile and I smiled back.

When they were all done, all the nurses stepped back by the door and the doctor stepped in front of me with a chart in his hands.

"Miss Roxanne, when you first came here 3 days ago, unconscious and we were unable to determine the cause of your sudden break down, that is until Mr. Uzamaki here described what had happen prior to your falling. When you first got here, we noticed redness around your back area, particularly around you tail (clears his throat) and just now when I check again, there seems to be no redness there as it was this morning when you first woke up. I've also notice you do not have a record here or anywhere in fact. Might I ask why you do not have a record and could you please explain what happen for you to have a breakdown" Holding his clipboard to his sides, the doctor waited for a response.

"Well the reason for me to lose consciousness happen to be the fault of one Sasuke Uchiha, that sadistic bastard thought it was a good idea to grab my tail to get my attention and so I ended up here. As for my records: I do not have any medical records. Unless you count the day I was born, but then again, I was born at home, not in a hospital. If you would like I can get hold of my guardian so she can send a written statement as she was my mother's midwife who helped in bringing me into this world. Before today, I have never been admitted into any medical facility as I am immune to most sickness normal children will get. Which is why the redness you saw this morning faded away when my body realized I am awake and got to work on healing me, so yea" Swinging my legs, the doctors looked at me in surprise when I said 'immune' and the nurses whispered among themselves.

"If that is all doctor, I would like to go home, tonight if possible" The doctor scratched his chin on thought and shrugged, turning to address the nurses.

"Nurse, if you would please get the discharge papers ready, Miss Roxanne will be leaving us tonight (he turns back to me) I hope you are more careful with that tail of yours. Would you like a ride back to where you are staying? I recommend it so you won't strain yourself after waking up" I nodded and gave my thanks as he and the nurses all filed out, that left me and Naruto alone.

Silence filled the room, except for the sounds in the hallway and outside.

"Can you heal quickly, Roxanne?" I stared at Naruto for his question came out struggled and quietly.

"Yes, I can heal faster than normal people. I think it's because of my tail"

"I heal quickly too but nobody knows about it. I don't get sick either" I nodded.

"That is just one more thing that we have in common Naruto" He smiled.

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The ride home is quiet. Naruto sat across from me and I looked out the small window at the lights of the village. 'I wonder what time it is.'

"Um Roxanne, are you going to classes tomorrow?" I nodded still looking outside.

"You know Sasuke feels really bad about what happen and he even tried to visit you but I wouldn't let him in. Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji came by yesterday and kept us company. They wanted me to tell you that they hope you feel better" I smiled.

"I'll thank them tomorrow when I see them"

"Um, wha-what are you going to do to Sasuke?" Naruto whispered quietly but I heard him loud and clear.

"I don't know but we'll see what happen when I see him I guess" that's not a total lie; I really didn't know what I'll do to him or say to him.

Our ride ended and we climbed out, Naruto helped me and we both thanked the driver. Climbing the stairs, I had my arm around Naruto's shoulders and his arm is wrapped around my waist so I have something to lean on while climbing the stairs. Stairs I don't mind but today I wished there was an elevator.

Getting to my floor took longer because we took our time getting there and when we turned to go to my door, I stopped abruptly.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Naruto asked

I just pointed to my door area and when he looked himself, he gasped: There by my door are all the things I ordered last week. My new bed and mattress, lumber for building a wall and closet, and about 5 chests of what I am assuming is clothes for Naruto.

As we came closer, I saw an envelope attached to one of the chest and so I let go of Naruto as he gaped at the many things and grabbed it off the chest. Opening the envelope, I pulled out a note carefully as there is something else with it. My eyes widen when I realize that the something else is a wad of cash.

"Whoa!" Naruto exclaimed when he looked over my shoulder.

"I know right, well might as well see what they were thinking" Stashing the money in my pocket, I read the letter out loud.

'_Dear Miss Roxanne: Surprised? I do hope so and what I wouldn't give to see your expression right now but alas I am here. Everything you asked for should be there along with the wardrobe of one Naruto Uzamaki and I must say: that is a lot of clothes. Ha! _(Naruto eep)_ Anyways down to business, you might be wondering why there is a stack of money with this letter; it seems that we, your accountants, have come to a decision that it is time for a present for our client. We have been good accountants that have been paid generously by our client, you, and so we would like you to have this money as a meaning of gratitude from us. Thank you for all your years of service and more to come. Don't spend it all in one place though and please write us back, we do love hearing for you. Ta!_

_Sincerely, Rickard, Senior Accountant'_

I had to sit down to process what I have read. They have given me way more than enough to buy whatever I wanted and all they asked is for a response. I started giggling and then it turned to a full blown laugh. Those airheads, how sweet can they be and I will be writing but not tonight. I am too tired to write and so will do that tomorrow. Standing up from my perch on the chest, Naruto scratched the back of his head in wonderment.

"Want some help with these?"

Shaking my head in decline, I pulled out my keys and unlocked my door.

"Nah, I just want to take a good long bath and relax. I think you need one too, Naruto" He chuckled at that as we both walked into my place and I turned on the lights.

"So what are you going to do with everything then?"

"This" Hand signs made in the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu and 10 clones appeared.

"Whoa" Naruto jumped back and stared at all of my clones.

"Everyone, I'm going to take a nice long bath and I want all of you to bring in the things outside in the hallway. Fix the bed; put the lumber on the side somewhere, and bring the chest in to organize the clothes. Got it?" With a series of 'yes sir' and a salute, they got to work.

"I'll be in the bath if anyone needs me and Naruto, please close your mouth or you'll catch flies with that (An audible click could be heard) No worries Naruto, everything will be fine, just go home, take a bath and I'll see you tomorrow first thing in the morning. If you happen to hear anything, just ignore it: it'll be the clones cleaning up, ok?" Naruto nodded and walked out the door, watching the clones at work.

When I knew Naruto is climbing the stairs, I went to my 'closet' and picked out my pajamas for the night. Going to the bathroom for a long awaited soak, I closed the door and after all that has happen, I really needed it.

An hour of soaking helped me relax and walking into the main room wearing my comfy pajamas, I see that my clones are all lounging on the king size bed, freshly made with all the bedding and everything. Clearing my throat, all the clones head snapped up at me but I didn't dismiss them, instead I climbed into bed with them and squeezed myself in between the clones, careful to not bump my tail in anyway. We all sighed and fell asleep.

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Confrontations

When I awoke to the sun shining on my face, I noticed I am now alone in bed and shrugged it away, knowing that sometime in the night; they all must have popped off. Stretching the sleepiness away and rubbing it from my eyes, I looked at the time to see that I'm up earlier than usual. 'Ok, let's see what today will bring' I thought as I rolled, literally, out of bed and fell to the floor but caught myself.

Doing a set of 50 push up, I then rolled to my back and did a set of 50 sit ups. Standing up and doing a set of jumping jacks and side punches, until I picked up a sweat. Which surprisingly came quick and so did the shortness of breath,

"Must have been those three days out of commission" I said to myself when I caught my breath. No matter, if given time, I'll be back on my feet and back to my strength. Bending down to put my hands on the floor, I kicked off the floor to have my feet up in the air and did pushups. Only when that is finished, I flipped myself back on my feet and went to the bathroom for a quick shower before Naruto came.

Just when I got out of the shower, a series of knocks came along with a yell of 'Good Morning Roxanne' coming from Naruto's mouth, I smiled. Wrapping a towel around my body, I got out of the bathroom and went to the door before Naruto could knock again. Opening the door, I see Naruto's hand in mid-knock but he froze the second he saw what I am wearing. I laughed and gestured him in but he stood still in the same spot, so I left him there and went to my 'closet' for a fresh pair of clothes.

In and out of the bathroom in 5 minutes, Naruto is still standing there in the door way, looking at nothing in particular and so I threw a wet towel to his head. Whack!

"Hey" He yelled and I yelled back:

"Finally" as we both laughed.

Coming in and going to the kitchen, Naruto got everything needed for a quick sandwich while I checked out the chest of clothes that came in yesterday. 5 chests of clothes to be exact and each one had been reorganized by my clones so it is easier to look through. The 5 categories are: Shirt/t-shirts, Shoes/accessories, Pants/shorts, Jackets/hoodies, and Undergarments/pajamas.

Taking a quick look at Naruto's current attire, I shook my head and looked in each chest for new attire for today's classes. Picking out a grey hoodie, black tank top, denim cut-offs, white sneakers and a choker with a cross. Closing each chest, I went to the kitchen and before Naruto could bite into one of the sandwiches, I cut him off and dropped the clothes on his lap.

"What?" I pointed to the bathroom as my reply and he grumbling made his way to it.

Sitting down on one of the chairs, I started eating and waiting patiently for Naruto to finish up so we can go. With one hand I did the hand sign for Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu, 5 of my clones appeared and waited for orders.

"I'll be heading to school soon and so won't have time to build the wall for my room or the extension of my closet, which is where you come in, peoples. You will do the work while I'm out and when done, pop out so I'll know you're finished. Are we clear?" They nodded.

Downing a glass of orange juice is when I heard the door opening and so I turned to see, almost dropping my glass in the process, at what I am a bit stunned to see.

"Whoa" Naruto looked cute in the outfit and when he heard me, he blushed and rubbed the back of his head.

"You think?" I nodded and went up to him, adjusting the hoodie and fixing his hair.

"New clothes are definitely your look Naruto; I can't wait until you try on all everything there is in the next few days. Now, shall we get going?" He nodded but stopped mid-way as he took notice of my clones around the main room, measuring and whatnots.

"Um, what's going on?" he ducked down when a long piece of lumber swung by his head.

"Well, while we are in classes, my clones will build a wall for my room and make a bigger closet. Which also reminds me: you'll need a bigger closet too. With all the clothes that came, you will definitely need a bigger closet and I think I have more than enough lumber just for that." Surveying the pile of lumber, I waved one of my clones over.

"When you lot are done with the wall and closet, take inventory to see if there will be enough to make a duplicate closet for Naruto, ok?" She saluted and went back to work.

"Come on Naruto or we'll be late" Grabbing his arm, I dragged him out with me as he looked at all my clones at work.

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Taking our time getting to the academy, we talked on whether or not to return to our training, in other words: Naruto's exercise since he has been by my side when I first was admitted into the hospital those three days ago.

I think that we should but Naruto argued that I should take it easy, at least for a couple days. I was going to argue back that I am ok, that is until I remembered what happened this morning: how easily I got tired and I didn't really want anyone to see me like that, especially Naruto.

So agreeing with Naruto, we dropped the subject and Naruto had this smug I-won look. I shoved him for good measure as we shared a laugh and then saw the academy building come into view.

Coming closer, we saw a spiky head of hair with a pineapple head of hair and knew it was Kiba and Shikamaru waiting on the steps. We waved when they saw us and we all yelled out a good morning to one another.

"Hey Roxanne, feeling better" Kiba

"Yeah, it's been really quiet since you been gone. Not even the girls fought" Shika

"Really, is that possible?" scratching my head in confusion and I looked at Naruto who shrugged as he didn't know any of this.

"Yeah, Sasuke has been in a gloomy mood, so the girls kept their distance in fear that they might get snapped at. After you were sent to the hospital, his mood came crashing down and nearly bit a girl's head off for trying to console him. It was freaky" Shikamaru crossed his arms and yawned.

"Does anyone else know I'm out?" had to ask.

"Um, we do but everyone else, nope. Naruto asked us to not say anything but we thought we could at least meet you out here before we head in" Kiba slung an arm around Naruto's shoulders.

"Cool, cool. Then let's head in before the bell goes off" I gestured for the guys to go first, with Naruto by my side and we enter the academy.

As we got closer to our classroom, I could hear soft murmuring and I assumed that everyone is talking in whispers but Iruka is not usually in until the bell is about to ring. What could make the rest of our classmates talk in whispers?

Kiba went in first, then Shika and Naruto, I went last as to get my bearing in what will happen when I am confronted by Sasuke and I know for sure he'll leap at the chance to apologize. As I walked through the threshold of our classroom, all whispering ceased immediately and I could feel all eyes on me. I held my head high and ignored everything else around me except Naruto in front, leading us to our table. It was going good, until the pale faced bane of my existence appeared in my sights and I groaned mentally. Naruto must have heard me as he turned around and is about to tell Sasuke off but I beat him to it, by punching Sasuke's light's out and gasps from the ever watchful girls littered all around the classroom. I have no idea what came over me but I just felt like socking him one or two.

Make that two when Sasuke tried to speak but I kicked him and he flew to the wall where the blackboard is. The girls screamed and tried to help but by then I had unconsciously put up a shield to keep them out, except for Naruto who is closest to where I am and froze at the scene in front of him.

Slowly I walked to the fallen Uchiha, as he spit out blood from his busted lip and I grabbed him by his shirt, hauling him up so his feet dangled 2 feet off the floor. He looked a bit frighten at the show of strength but I dismissed that and made him look me in the eyes.

"No Words cannot condone for what you have done to me, Uchiha. Apology and a sullen look will not benefit for what you have done. Your words are like ash to me" Anger from yesterday fueled my words.

"I…" He tried.

"**YOU VIOLATED ME, UCHIHA!"** Gasps could be heard but all I saw is the widening of his eyes.

"You violated me by touching what is not yours to touch and for that I might not forgive you or even speak to you, ever again" I could see the breaking of something in his eyes and I wonder what it is.

"You brought this upon yourself, Uchiha and words will not work, not this time" I dropped him and he fell to the floor on his ass, not even trying to catch himself. With his head down I see blood dripping onto his pants and a clear liquid that I am assuming is tears. I took a couple steps backwards, to where Naruto is and said my last words to the fallen.

"Your words are worthless, Uchiha and I wipe my hands of you" My hand automatically grabbed Naruto's and turned to walk up the steps to our desk. Never once looking back, but could hear what is happening: A shuffling sound, followed by running of feet, slamming back of the door against the outer wall and the distinct calling of Iruka telling Sasuke to come back.

Sitting down, I held on to Naruto's hand and looked down to my desk as Iruka came in to ask why Sasuke took off, that is until he saw me and all words left him. Clutching Naruto's hand, I trembled when what had just happen hit me full force: I lost control and probably broke something, but what?

Kiba saw my distress, so he leaned over and held onto my other hand while Naruto scooted his chair closer and wrapped an arm around me. My trembling subsided a bit with the comforting gesture of both guys and only after a few minutes, Iruka cleared his throat and welcomed me back.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I won NOTHING except my character

AN: This is my last chapter until I get off my holiday, so enjoy and comment if need to.

**Humble Weekend**

All day today, Sasuke didn't come back to class and he didn't show up the next day either. Now it's the weekend and since I got out, Naruto and Kiba have made sure that I chill and let my body 'rebuilt' itself so I can start on my practices. So far it's been good, Naruto kept me company as we watched Kiba train with his sister or play a puzzle game with Shikamaru when he's not in snooze land and it's good…but it's tiring.

I know I'm supposed to be relaxing and taking it easy…but DAMN! I need to train and need it now or else I will lose my mind.

Went I got home that first day of coming back to class, the wall is built for my room and when I saw my closet, I almost fell to my knees: it was HUGE! The old closet is pushed to the outside of the wall to my room into the main room and I got giddy with excitement because now I can go shopping for clothes. To the side of the front door, are left over lumber but those can wait another day.

It's Saturday morning, 4 in the morning to be exact, earlier then I like it to be but I have a goal to set and gain: sneak out and train somewhere secluded so I won't be disturbed. I may have been out of it for 3 days but I don't usually heal like most people and only needed a good day to get back into rhythm. Then again I didn't like hearing Naruto whining and arguing that I need to rest and take it easy. Ugh!

Anyways I'm strapping some weights onto my ankles and wrists when I heard a quiet knock on my door, very quiet, as if they weren't really sure on knocking and that made me wonder.

I knew it wasn't Naruto because I told him last time to actually sleep in like I do except this time, I'm awake and he's not.

Walking over to the door, I opened it to see nothing on the other side, just an empty hallway and the slight breeze of the morning air. Shrugging, thinking it's probably nothing I turned to closed the door but something red caught my eye and I looked down to see a small package wrapped in red paper and tied off with a white bow. Bending down I picked it up and turned it around to see if there is a card with it. Not seeing anything, I brought it with me inside and closed the door. Walking over to my room, I sat on my bed as I kept looking at the small package and for some reason, I have no idea why, I sniffed it. I smelled the scent of vanilla and orchids.

I know this scent, but my mind could not for the life of me figure out where I've smelt it before.

So, cautiously, I open the package slowly and not tear the wrapping as it is a good shade of red, remind me of the color of blood and not wrinkle the bow either. With the item unwrapped, I now held a small flat box with a cover and it felt light. Opening it and looking in, I almost dropped it.

Inside the small box laid a pair of long fingerless gloves that I knew are water proof and wear proof that could withstand anything, and they don't come cheap as it is made of real leather. Holy Shit!

Picking them up with one hand, I dropped the box onto the floor and held up the gloves with both hands for a close inspection to see if they are the real deal. Turning them over and over, I see a tag on the inside lining and checked it out.

'**Shinobi issued top grade gloves, wear, tear, water and shock proof'** Holy Crap it is the real deal!

Who would drop this off, at my door no less and why?

I wanted to think on this but I had a time limit for my secret training and I had to go now if I didn't want to get caught by anybody. Stuffing the gloves in my night stand, I grabbed my shoes and adjusted the weights on my ankle and wrist. Heading to the door, I stopped mid-way to opening it: what am I doing?

Turning back around, I open the window and climbed out to stick to the wall as I closed the window again and jumped right off to fly through the air. Chakra lined feet cushioned my fall and sped off to the training ground, without a sound as I ran for it.

When I got to the specific training ground, I stopped to look around for any guards minding the area and when I found none, I leaped high in the sky and summersaulted over the barb wired fence. Landing quietly over the other side, I kept running until I am now deep in the forest of the Training ground # 44, the deadliest training ground and the largest. It's also known as the Forrest of Death and I like it. I had my eye on this place since I heard about it and without anyone around; I can finally train in the midst of this place.

Scanning the area for any chakra signatures, I started to stretch and do warm ups when I felt nothing in the 10 km radius of where I am.

When I found out about this place I was ecstatic to train here: I overheard some Chunins talking about this place in hush tones and I got the name of it when I checked out the list of training grounds in the school.

Finishing my warm up, I produced one clone and asked it to start slow as I am just getting back into my rhythm and my feet but didn't need to see the docs anytime soon.

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4 hours later and I'm almost exhausted but did get an awesome work out, I didn't get tired as quickly as I thought I might be but I did sweat a great deal and so am now running back to my place for a quick shower then get back into bed before Naruto comes over for another day of relaxation.

I'm proud of myself that I'm able to do this and will keep doing this, even on a school day until I get back on my feet and back to my original training. I know soon enough Naruto is going to come around to asking if I'm ok to start on his exercise and I'll be more than ready for that.

Climbing through the window, I undressed and slipped off the weights on my way to the bathroom and turned on the shower to warm and got in to ease my tense muscles with the spray of the shower.

15 minutes, I'm dressed in pajamas, picked up my discarded clothes, stashed the weights so I won't rouse suspicion and am about to crawl into my comfy bed when I heard the knocks of Naruto. I groaned out loud, went to the door, open it and went back to my room to fall into bed.

"Roxanne?" my answer is muffled by the soft comforter and softer pillow as Naruto came closer to my room doorway.

"Hey Roxanne, you're up right?" a muffled reply is his answer again.

"I know it's early but I heard your shower on and so thought you be up, I guess I got it wrong" I peek out from my blanket and pillow to see him standing there in a comfortable looking clothes, so I waved him over to me. When he got closer to the bed, I quickly grabbed his hand and hauled him over me. He yelled out but didn't struggle and I rolled him over so his back is to me and held on to him.

"I'm tired Naruto, let's just sleep for a bit then we'll do whatever you want when we wake up, ok?" I snuggled in the warm that is Naruto and I actually felt him blush, his face is probably red as a tomato right now. A squeak of 'ok' came from him and I for one got more comfortable when Naruto relaxed.

Soon sleepiness came and we are both flying into dream land with small smiles on our faces.

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**Back in training**

If I had an alarm clock ticking away right now, it'll tell me we've been asleep for more than 5 hours and we need to get up but it is so comfortable to even try to get up. Sometime during our sleep, Naruto turned around and my head is resting nicely on his chest and his arms are around me, holding tightly but not too tightly. I like it.

I kept laying there with my eyes closed and just enjoying the warmth that Naruto's body has to offer until I felt him stirring to wakefulness. Trying not to groan from disappointment, I pretend to sleep and when Naruto finally woke up and realized that we are tangled up together, well, I felt his temperature rose as he blushed deeply.

Slowly yet surely, Naruto tried to untangle us without waking me up, so he thought, and I wanted to smile at the gentleness he is providing. As the last of my limbs is finally off him, Naruto then sat on the edge of the bed and looked out the window, while I looked at him when his back is turned and didn't know I was awake. Naruto then stretched out his limbs is when I turned to my sides and stifled a yawn.

Might as well get up…but it is so comfortable to do so and I just snuggled back into the pillow, sighing away the need to get up. Naruto, though, did get up and went to the bathroom as I closed my eyes and let the last remaining sleep take over for a while.

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I awoke to the smell of bacon, eggs and hash browns, and it was totally working. Stretching my entire body and yawning away the last sleep, I stood up and did the little morning exercise I usually do. 50 sets of pushups, sit ups and side to side punches, is when Naruto notices I am awake but didn't say anything as I made my way to the bathroom.

Freshly washed but still in my pjs, I went into the kitchen and sat down, watching Naruto as he move, surprisingly, gracefully in the kitchen getting everything in a plate and pouring juice. Setting a plate in front of me with juice and set another up across the table where he is sitting, Naruto then grabbed some napkins and finally sat down, handing me one.

"Good Morning, slept well?"

"Very well and thank you for the breakfast, it looks delicious" He nodded and picked up his fork as I copied him. A forkful of eggs with hash browns, I am humming with approval and Naruto's eyes lights up with gratitude.

"So what's on the agenda for today, Naruto, taking a walk, shopping, chilling with the boys or watching a movie?" I wanted to know.

"Um, I was actually thinking of doing a bit of training, light training today so we won't get behind in our practices" my fork clattered on the plate as I looked at Naruto in stun silence. Did I hear him right?

"You want to train, what happen to all the bull about me having my rest and whatnots?" did he really want to?

"Well, we have been taking it easy since you got out of the hospital and that was like 2 days ago, I think, and it'll be good to get back on track, don't you think?" I actually didn't hope for it to happen right away but happy nonetheless.

"I think…it is an awesome idea, so when do you want to start?" Taking a bite of his breakfast, Naruto mulled it over in his mind for a good second before answering.

"After we're done" I nodded and tried hard not to speed up eating but kept a shit eating grin on my face at the news of being able to go out in the open, so to speak, and train back my routine. A slip of thought came across my mind when I realized that I did train earlier and hopefully won't outdo myself later on.

30 agonizing minutes came and went as we walked to the training grounds instead of running for it but I get the gesture: Naruto did say light training so I guess this is included.

Getting there, we kept going until I found a good grassy clearing and sat down, gesturing for Naruto to go for it. He hesitated for a bit but walked over to some of the taller grass and concentrated on his chakra to line his feet. Sitting cross legged and leaning against the base of a tree, I watched for how he did this technique but kept quiet, so Naruto can try and remember what I said those days ago.

After a few minutes of concentration, Naruto lifted his foot off the ground and let it hover above the grass before pressing it down firmly. The grass gave way but only for a second and then held it place, not being crushed from Naruto weight. He smiled at that and let the chakra go to his other foot to try it. When both feet are like 2 inches off the ground, Naruto turned to me to say something but ended up crushing the grass underneath his feet and he moaned in disappointment.

"Naruto, like the water and tree technique, you have to keep concentrating so the chakra could stick AND keep you afloat at the same time. Remember, combine both techniques somehow and you'll do great. I'll just be right over there practicing my katas" I pointed off to the side somewhere and got up just as Naruto called up his chakra again.

Another clearing, I stood in the middle and took a deep breath as I did a series of stretching and short exercising. Finished, I did the hand sign and a clone popped up, already in a defensive stance. I smirked and got ready. This morning's nap might have done me good because I am pumped up with extra energy and started this fight with a swift kick.

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A Crash into a massive tree shook it to the core and some leaves fell to the ground, but that did not interfere with this practice fight that went from being slow and steady to fast and hard. I am loving this!

The sweat on my brow, the slight aching of my legs and arms, the adrenaline pumping in my veins and my heart beating a calm beat like the outside is not affecting me one bit. Three days out of commission and two days of 'relaxation' have nothing on me as I dodged a 3 hits to the midsection and flipped backwards to kick the upside of the clones head.

This is where I'm supposed to be at and this is what I'm supposed to do, I live for shits like this and I dream it too. Running to the tree, I jumped off it to launch myself at the clone but it is waiting for me as it grabbed me by my shirt and threw me over its head to almost crash into another tree. Twisting in midair, I landed at the base of the tree on all fours and ran head on to the clone, while unsheathing a kunai from my holster.

It jumped back and dodges every swing of my knife from left to right, up and down. Quicker and faster I sliced as it backed up to the tree behind it and with a spin kick, I slammed it up against the wood and plunged the knife in its midsection making it popped out of existence.

Wiping the sweat off my brow, I sheath the knife back in its holster and stretched my muscles as my bones cracked and popped from overuse. Doing a short exercise to cool down my body temperature, a slight breeze sweep over me and that helped…until I caught a scent.

Right away my sense shot to high alert and scan my surroundings. Reaching out with my chakra, I caught something to my right and so jumped up high to the tree branch and tried again. Sniffing and scanning, the scent and something vanished right away. I stayed up in the tree for a good 15 minutes before I relaxed a bit and jumped down to the ground.

With one more look around, I began my walk back to where Naruto is and kept myself alert, just in case.

Getting to the clearing with minimum noise and leaning against a tree, I watched Naruto as he is actually trying to walk on the grass. Nodding my head to no one in particular, I sat down and just watched. Naruto hasn't noticed me yet, so I rested my head against the tree as Naruto crushed his next step and he exclaimed in a pissed off fashion but began again. Smiling at his antics and quickness of his emotions, I felt my eyes getting heavy and thought it wouldn't hurt to rest them for a bit. Closing them, I listened to Naruto's steps and breathing, as well as the forest around us.

A shaking of my shoulders woke me up from my surprising slumber as Naruto kept calling my name and shaking me lightly. Sighing, I open my eyes and looked up at Naruto's face looking at me with concern.

"Roxanne, hey you alright, I think you fell asleep for a bit there" Stretching my arms above my head, I held out a hand for Naruto to take and he hauled me up.

Yawning and shaking my head, I rubbed the little sleep I had in my eyes and looked up to the sky to notice it is getting less light. Not saying a thing, I wrapped an arm around Naruto's shoulders and started walking; yawning more times than I can count and realized that I must have over done my workout.

Naruto didn't say anything and didn't need to when his arm wrapped around my waist as we walked in comfortable silence to our building. The evening rush at the market is lively but I'm tired to really look or care. Then Naruto stopped for some reason and told me to stay put for a minute while he rushes into a grocery store. Indeed a minute later, he come back out carrying a bag and holds it up for me to see.

"I'll be cooking tonight, so you can take a nap when we get back, ok" I nodded and again wrapped my arm around his shoulders and continued walking, leaning a bit on Naruto.

Soon I'll be back to my spunky self but right now I just want to crawl into bed and rest while Naruto cooks a secret meal.

When we did get back, Naruto got to work but lead me to my room first before starting anything. When my head hits the pillow, I'm out again and this time on my soft pillow while Naruto takes off my shoes and goes to the other side to begin.

'**Damn I'm tired'** is the only thought that went through my mind as sweet darkness claimed me.

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**Admitting**

The aroma of cooked food filled my room and my nose that lead me to unconsciously sit up and sniff the delicious smell before stretching and opening my eyes. Looking towards the window, I see that it is darker now and less noise coming from the open window, that Naruto open I assume. Swinging my legs over to place my feet on the floor, I stretched one more time before standing to walking out to the main room and saw Naruto twirling and sliding from one spot to another, like this morning.

Smiling, I went to the bathroom to wash up before Naruto call to let me know that dinner is ready.

Washed and clean, I quietly made my way to the table and sat watching Naruto 'dance' to the sound of cooking. A twirl here, a twist there and a slid to end it all, to have a plate in front of me filled with delicious food and to have more set down on the table before Naruto poured us a cup of warm tea. That is when he sat down and I clapped to show my appreciation and admiration to his little talent. He smiled and blushed at the same time.

Picking up my fork, I stabbed a piece of meat and put it in my mouth, only to realize an explosion of different taste filled my mouth. The sauce is a masterpiece and why hasn't Naruto done this before. I hummed my approval and Naruto started on his as I tried the veggies.

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After dinner is finished I got up to start on cleaning the dishes, but Naruto stopped me, sat me down and said he'll do it, and with a smile no less so I had to comply. Sipping on my tea and sitting with my legs up on my seat, a thought crossed my mind and I voice it.

"When did you learn to cook?" Naruto's hand faltered for a second before resuming what he is doing.

"I learned when I was tall enough to reach the oven…I think…or was it when I was old enough to go grocery shopping" he scratched his head for a moment and thought about it.

"Yeah, when I was old enough to go shopping is when I learned" continued to wash the dishes.

"I learned when I caught and killed my first rabbit" sipping some more, I noticed Naruto stopped his movement and turned his head towards me. I just nodded and he went back to washing.

"I was really young and by myself at the time, so I had to watch and learn first from others before I attempted it. Turned out really good and then tried my hand at frying fish" I smiled at the memory. Draining the water and drying his hands with a dish towel, Naruto sat across from me and picked up his cup of tea.

"Why were you by yourself?" Sipping, he looked at me for any small movement, which I did not make.

"It was complicated back then, people didn't understand and so I had to be by myself for a bit. It's a story of what it was like for me back in my old village but a story not yet ready to be told, ok Naruto" He nibbled on his bottom lip for a bit and then nodded.

"Today really tired you out, huh, must have been a hell of a work out to be that tired" He jokes with me and I laugh a bit, at that and at the change of subject right away.

"Honestly, it was but it's because I went out this morning" He sputtered the tea out and looked at me with wide eyes while he wiped the spilled tea off the table with the dish towel.

"You went out, without me?" I nodded and sighed at his chest fallen expression and so reached over and held his hand.

"I went out because I needed to, Naruto, if I didn't I would of snapped and be a bitch about it. I didn't want that. So I went out, did a light training session and got back by 8, is when you heard the shower running and came over" squeezing his hand, he squeeze back but won't look at me.

"But why, we went out and did that, you could of waited"

Sigh "Naruto, I didn't know you were planning on asking and I went because I needed to. My whole life, I have been training and if I don't, even for a day, I get sort of antsy to move and fight. What happen had made me take 5 days off and at first it tired me out but after a bit it got easier to exercise, so I thought if I did what I did then I'll get back to my rhythm quickly so when you asked, I'll be good and ready to go. I over did it today but I didn't get injured or hurt in the process. Naruto **(I lifted his chin) **I need to train, not because of the exams but because it's in my blood to fight and train. I've been training since I could walk and being out of commission, got kind of boring for me, so I went. Sorry I didn't tell you"

Bringing my hand down, Naruto mulled it over as I sipped my tea.

"It's not that because I thought you would get injured, it's that if you asked I could of went with you so I can watch or work on my techniques. You train in an amazing way, Roxanne, like art and I wanted to watch" He blushed and I just smiled at the cuteness of it. So I got up and went around to hug the life out of Naruto, who 'eep'ed but hugged back.

"Next time I try to get in an early exercise, I'll include you but if you're there, then you will have to do what I do, ok. It won't be easy, not one bit and it'll be long. Ok"

"Alright" one last hug, I let him go and went over to my room to grab something to show Naruto that I had almost forgotten from the day's activities.

"This morning, before I left, someone knocked quietly on my door and I knew it wasn't you because of what I said before about getting up late on the weekends. Anyways I opened the door and there was no one there. So I was about to close the door when I spotted something on the floor and picked it up. It was a small package wrapped in red paper and white bow. I sniffed a scent on it but for the life of me, I can't figure out what it is and so opened it up. You wouldn't believe what was in there"

Coming back in the main room, Naruto is up and I have my hand behind me to hide the gift.

"Well what is it?" I chucked it at him and he caught it, but when he saw it, he gasped and looked closely.

"Are you serious, do you have any idea how much these things cost?" I nodded and sat back down on my seat to sip my tea.

"Of course I know how much they cost, Naruto, those kind of shit is expensive, at least a month worth of groceries…maybe more" Naruto then plopped down on his seat as he kept looking at the gloves on different angles as if it will tell him who it's from.

"No note?"

"Nope"

"But you said there was a scent"

"From the wrapper"

"Where is it?"

Getting back up and going back to the room, I grabbed the paper off the night stand, where I threw them, in my hast to get out of there and came back to the table, handing the piece to Naruto.

Setting the gloves on the table, Naruto then Looked at the paper closely and sniffed it even that made me laugh. Standing up, I refilled my cup, added sugar and sat back down, continuing to watch Naruto in his, I guess detective mode or something.

"You know I've never seen this kind of paper before and you're right, the smell is sort of familiar but I can't place it anywhere" turning upside and over, Naruto looked for any sign of remembrance.

"Yeah, well whatever, it's a mystery for another day" Looking at the time, I see it's only 8 in the evening and I did get some sleep as I am not tired yet.

"Naruto, will you stop that" looks up from his sniffing of the paper

"Let's play a game of cards, I'm not tired yet and it'll keep you busy while something is happening. Is your place locked?" Confusion marred his features when he shook his head and I smirked.

A hand sign and 5 clones popped out, they all stood by and waited for instructions.

"Take those **(I pointed to the left over lumber to the side)** go up to Naruto's and make an exact copy of my closet. We need room for the clothes that will be there, now scoot" I waved them away and they all picked up the lumber and thundered their way out and upstairs.

At first Naruto didn't say nothing since his eyes were bulged out of their sockets but the noise from upstairs woke him up and he sputtered before catching his voice.

"Closet, why do I need a closet for?" Giving him a look that clearly states 'Really' and then gestured to the 5 chests of clothing lying by the wall of my room

"Do I have really have to explain to you the need to store your clothes in a reasonable space and hang them up so they don't wrinkle as much?" Scratching his head in a thinking pose

"Um…no"

"Alright then, I'll get the cards and we can start while everyone else is busy doing what they got to do" To the closet and back, I shuffled a deck of cards and started to deal out a game as we listen to the bumping and shuffling of movement from the floor above us.

**Reviews and comment are welcomed.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimers: I own NOTHING except my character which came to life from my imagination and is Loving it!**

**Author's Note:**Enjoy because I have no idea when I'll be updating next as I have been writing back and forth with this story and my other one. So Enjoy!

First Work out

15 games of cards, 10 cups of beverages of all kinds and 2 bathroom breaks later, I hear the upstairs quiet down to a soft thump leading from the door to the stairs. Series of footfalls could be heard from the outside of my front door and we looked where the sound are coming from and going to.

Down the steps trying to go as quietly as possible but a little misstep here and there along with loud talking and shushing until they came to the front door. Barging right in and saluted to us before heading straight for my bedroom and plopping themselves on the bed. Shrugging, I gathered the cards; put them away and gesturing for Naruto to follow me out. Up the stairs, I realized I haven't seen Naruto's place yet and that put a smile on my face. Once on the landing, I let Naruto go first so he can see the freshly built closet and wanting to see his reaction.

"Oh!" was all I heard as we stepped through his threshold and when he set his eyes on the huge closet next to his little bed, his reaction just made me smile. Eyes wide open with his mouth hanging from it hinges, Great.

I pushed him forward softly and he walked ahead to get a good look at the closet. It is an exact replica of mine. Same length and height with shelves to the far wall; This could be enough room for the clothes but I wanted to know if it could, so while Naruto is ogling his closet, I snuck out and quickly ran to my place.

"Hey, get up and grab those (I pointed to the 5 chests) and bring them up, quickly" then out again but I did hear the clones already up and moving so when I got to Naruto's, I left the door open and stood by him.

Not even the noise of my clones walking or the dropping of the chest on his floor or the scurrying about rouse Naruto from his little dreamland of excellent craftsmanship that made up his closet and so I laughed at that.

By the time Naruto actually blinked and looked around, the chest were gone, so were the clones and the clothes that I had purchased for Naruto are now hanging in his closet. He had to do a double take to see his closet filled to the brim with clothes but he did notice one chest by the foot of his bed and so looked at me questionably.

"This chest is for your accessories, so it is easily reached and you can mix and match them with the clothes you will wear. So what do you think?" hand on my hips, I waited for Naruto's reply but also looked around the small apartment. It is similar to mine, very similar, except for the room I have now and compared to the single bed Naruto has, it's still the same.

"Wow, I mean just wow, Roxanne"

"I know right" he nodded and fingered all the clothes on the hangers.

"So anyways, you get some much need rest because when 4 am hits, we will be out those doors and hitting the dirt in our training, that is IF you still want to join?" an nonchalant tone as I can muster as Naruto spins to me with his brows raise in slight surprise.

"Really, you mean it, I can go?" Smiling I nodded and started to head out.

"4 AM Naruto and I will be waiting, Good night" a wave and closing of the door, I headed back to my place where I found all my clones already asleep on my bed. So grabbing my pjs and changing into them, I crawled over them and snuggled down for a well-rested night of sweet dreams before the early morning start.

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To say that Naruto is excited will be the understatement of the century because exactly by 4 am, loud knocking came to my door and good thing I am already up and ready, if not then I would have knocked some sense into Naruto's head for the early noise.

Opening the door to a smiling Naruto, I waved him in and went back into my room to grab something for him to use.

This little exercise will not be easy as it is not easy for me so it won't be for him. Hearing him in the kitchen, I knelt down on all fours next to my bed, and reached under to slide out a box, a black box. Opening it revealed a couple sets of extra weights, so I pick one pair up but left the box as is. Getting up, I went out to the other room and threw them on the kitchen floor with a loud thud that surprise Naruto as he squeaked like a little girl. Turning around, Naruto eyed the weights and looked up at me in question.

"Strap those on your wrist and ankles: you wanted to train like me, then you will" Going to the kitchen, I picked up a sandwich and a glass of orange juice, that Naruto made before sitting down on the table, smiling at Naruto in a sort of challenge kind of way.

Naruto looked at the weights on the floor, at me and then at my limbs to see the same kind of weights attached to them, well color wise. Walking over, Naruto picked them up…well tried to, he sort of struggle a bit but picked them up nonetheless. Walking slowly to the table, he sat down and slowly strapped them on. I just smiled the whole time while eating and drinking my OJ.

One by one on to each leg and arms, Naruto then tried to stand up but plop right back down and the chair groaned from the extra weight to it. He looked to me and tried again but didn't succeed.

I right out laugh as Naruto glared at me. "You should see your face Naruto"

"What is so funny Roxanne, I'm trying here!" Trying to guilt trip me but I shook my head and got up to go back to the room and picked up the right weight for him from the box.

"It's funny because those aren't for you, well not yet" throwing the right ones to him, Naruto caught it and felt the weight of it but still glared at me.

"That's not really funny, Roxanne"

"It is when you've seen how your face looked when you tried to get up. Anyways the ones I just threw you are the ones you'll be using until it feels like you aren't wearing them at all. The heavier ones will come next and those are the one I'm wearing right now" bringing my arms up, I showed Naruto the same weight he has on are the same ones I'm wearing, and so made his eyes grow bigger than his head, if it is possible.

"You're kidding, right?" I shook my head and sat down on my chair as Naruto unstrapped the heavier ones and strapped the right ones on.

"You're really serious?" I nodded

"Soon, Naruto and you'll be like me. Just be patient and it will come" Grabbing water bottles from the fridge, wrapping my tail around my waist, I threw one bottle to Naruto and we took off out the door.

**~/\/\/\~**

"So what are we doing here?" Looking around, we stood by the grand wall that surrounds the village while I started on my stretches.

"We are here because jogging come first then exercises. Usually I do about 7 miles, which is 7 times around the village because I figure it about a mile around (?) and then do 50 pushups, sit-ups, jumping jacks and whatever else. All 50 each, of course but since you are a beginner; we will do half sets each for now until it gets easier. So stretch out your limbs and then we will begin" Started on stretching his limbs took a bit of time until he just copied me and when we are finally warmed up, I jog for it with Naruto following me.

The weight I am wearing on all my limbs are 8 lbs. each and Naruto's are 2.5 each. Hopefully when the week is up then he'll be moved up to 5 and 10 for me, if we keep this up every morning.

Half way through, we are building up a good layer of sweat and keeping our breathing leveled, as Naruto is keeping up pace with me. Early this morning you won't see much people around, unless you count the ones who are also exercising this morning too and that ain't much either.

Waving to a couple with matching jogging attire, we made it all the way for the one mile mark and while Naruto slowly caught his breath, I keep on jogging on the spot as I waited.

"So want to try out for 2 or had you had enough?" That got him up and ready again

"Let's go" he started first off while I lagged behind to stifle a snigger

Catching up and jogging around is pretty much the same as the first but with Naruto really breathing hard that had me sort of worried. So when we got back to the beginning mark, I stopped while Naruto is bent over, trying to catch up on his breathing.

"Hey, Naruto are you ok, you are like breathing like a smoker or something. Are you alright"

He waved me off, so I picked up the water bottles we stashed on the sides where a small bush grows to conceal it from anyone's view. Cracking it open, I handed it to Naruto who downed half in one go and so I asked again:

"Seriously Naruto, are you alright?"

"Yeah, just that these weight are really hard to work with" Ah, extra weight got him all tired.

"Well just as well, we can end the jogging and head over to a simple training ground to do our exercises and believe me, Naruto, those will be harder than the running"

Closing his water bottle, he pocketed it and we took off to a nearby clearing that I saw on the way around twice.

"Now Naruto, like I mention before, we will be doing 25 sets of each exercises and a small break in between each set so we won't over exert ourselves, ok" he nodded and I told him to lay down and we can start.

25 pushups then break

25 sits ups then break

25 touch toes then break

25 squats then break

25 side punches then break

25 jumping jacks then break

150 in total for all and when I said finished, Naruto plopped down on the dirt like a pile of goo. I still laughed at him when I told him that this session we did is only half of what I usually do and I mention the actual total, he sputtered out his drink of water.

When he finally caught his breath and it even out, I gestured for him to stand up so we can do a cool down routine that consist of Tai chi. Giving me a weird-out look but complied. The sun and cool breeze, along with the chirping of morning birds made the scene very calming. Closing my eyes, I did what comes naturally to me when it comes down to cooling after a good workout and so unraveled my tail from its place on my waist and let it sway freely. Once in a while I hear an 'oops' or 'oh' from my sides but I didn't need to open my eyes to know that it's Naruto fumbling in his posture.

When the last of the stance came to an end and we are standing side my sides, did our breathing even out in unison. Opening my eyes, I looked to Naruto as he shook out the remaining tenseness from his muscles and I stretched out my arms high above my head while I hear all my bones crack in many places.

"Now wasn't that fulfilling, Naruto?" Sighing, he cracked his neck and nodded while smiling at me.

"That was an intensive workout Roxanne, and you do this all the time?"

"Well yeah, but this time it's because I need to so I can be ready for the upcoming exams. You need it too, if you are going to be in the same league as me and so we will keep doing this every morning before and after classes and even during the weekends, until you don't feel worn out" Picking up the water bottle off the ground, uncapped it and drank from it. Tossing it to Naruto, I began walking away slowly so he can catch up when he's finished the bottle and wrapped up my tail again. Hand behind my head, I looked up at the many clouds in the sky that are sort of covering the morning sunshine and then heard footfalls behind me coming quickly but slowed when they got nearer. A sigh escaped our lips as we walked in complete comfortable silence and enjoyed the nice morning as we walked home.

Niceness

When we got back to the building, I told Naruto to catch some Z's since it's still too early in the morning and we'll do something at noon. Rubbed his eyes while yawning, Naruto nodded and made his tired way upstairs to his place. Unlocking my door, I went straight to the bathroom as I undressed and got in the shower with the water full blast. Few minutes later, I am clean, in warm clothes and snuggling away in my comfy bed, asleep before I closed my eyes.

Hours later, since I didn't bother to check the time before heading to bed, I awoke to a quiet nervous knock to my door and I was just about to ignore it BUT then a reminder flashed through my mind to yesterday morning when the same quiet knock came. Jumping out of bed, I rushed to the door, unlocked it and swung it open to see…nothing and nobody…except a small package near my door step.

Looking to both sides of the hallway, I see or hear nothing, not even the wind and so I bent down and picked up the package. Turning it over in my hand, I can feel the texture of the silver wrapping in ripples and the black bow made it look sort of elegant. Smiling at the well wrapping that must have took a bit of time to actually wrap it carefully and thoughtfully.

Closing the door, I went back to my bed and crawling under the covers, laying the package right by my head and noticed that this one is a bit longer and thinner than the previous one. After a while, I fell asleep looking at the small bundle and kept my smile on.

I'm guessing about an hour later, I heard the knocking of Naruto and so got up, open the door and went back to bed, looking at the wrapping. I don't know why but I waited to open it.

"What's that you got there?" Naruto asked as he crawled over me and sat with his legs crossed on my bed, facing the shiny bundle.

"I really have no idea, it's just like I mention yesterday: someone knocked and this is there instead of a body" Sitting up, with the blanket around my waist and picking up the package, I held it out to Naruto to look at it. Taking it from my hand, He turned it over and over.

"It sure does look pretty though, I like the bow, you going to open it?" Handing it back to me, I eyed it good and proper before slowly and carefully slipping off the bow. Naruto actually held his breath as I unwrapped the covering without tearing right into: I wanted to keep it. Giving the paper and bow to Naruto, he carefully folded the wrapping and placed them on my night stand. Setting the thin box in between us, I looked up at Naruto and we nodded to each other before I slowly removed the top cover.

Gasp echoed in my room as we looked at the shiny object sheath in brown leather holster, with the handle carved like the head of a wolf, howling at the moon. I just looked at it, but Naruto woke up before me, so he picked it up and examined it. Unsheathing the blade, I could see that it's a double sided blade and it made it all the more beautiful. I held my hand out for it and Naruto carefully placed it in my hands while he check out the little inscription on the sides on the holster that I didn't noticed before.

'For you and only you' Naruto read out loud on one side.

'May it never wither as long as you shall live' it said on the other side.

"Wow, who ever got you this must really like you. Look" He showed me the cursive written inscription that is probably engraved by a professional. Smiling I just nodded as I didn't have anything to say about this because what does one say to another about the significance of such great gift.

Turning the blade in my hands, I felt how sharp it is and the weight of the metal told me that it's really good metal that won't dull after a good amount of use. Holding my hand out, Naruto gave me the holster in which I sheath the blade and just looked at it before putting it away in my drawer of the night stand.

"Anyways, that aside, what do you feel up to today?" Getting up from the bed and going to the kitchen, I grabbed the pitcher of OJ and poured into 2 glasses, handing one to Naruto and putting the pitcher back in the fridge.

"I don't know how about we just go visiting today. Go see Kiba and Shikamaru and see if anyone else is out and about" Taking a sip of our juice, I thought it is a good idea and said so.

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After breakfast or brunch, we got dressed in a casual way (I picked out the clothes for Naruto) and headed out to the sunny afternoon of Konoha. The market place is bustling with the Sunday afternoon crowd and most of them didn't pay us a mind as we walked the dirt, looking around.

Keeping my tail wrapped around my waist as we enjoyed the outing and made our way to the residential area where Kiba and the guys live. As we came closer, we heard a loud howl and then a bark followed by a 'Hey'. We looked at each other and continued on towards the back of Kiba's house where they usually train.

The scene before us is like this: Kiba on his back with Akamaru baring his teeth at a much larger and darker dog, that belong to a girl, woman with wild hair, smirking at her little brother.

"Kiba, get up and try that again" They didn't see us yet, so I gestured for Naruto to keep quiet while I tiptoed to the back porch and sat on the deck with Naruto to my side.

Being in tuned with dog should have told them of our arrival but then again if the only thing you are keeping your eyes on is the one being trained, and then yea, I would be distracted too. So we just sat and watched brother and sister train with their dogs.

A punch, kicks flying all over the place and lots of cursing followed by a smack is all good and fun but they still didn't notice us. After a bit, we got more comfortable against the wall of the deck and then the side doors slid open to reveal a woman, older woman, one I haven't seen before in the times we've come and visited. She's wearing a simple kimono in the shade of red and had long dark hair, not tied in a ponytail or bun, her skin is lighter than mines but her eyes is what captivated me: they were the color of yellow, like the sun with black diamond pupils, so catlike in the family of dogs.

She saw us and smiled at us as we waved at her in greeting; she then brought her finger to her lips to shush us and then disappeared again. Naruto and I looked at each other and shrugged at the weirdness of it. Until a plate of cookies and 2 cups of milk is place in front of us. So we looked up at the woman as she smiled at us, so we nodded our thanks and she went back inside but took one last look at the pair in the back yard.

I looked at Naruto in question about the woman; he just shrugged, picked up a cookie and spoke.

"Kiba's mom" shoving the whole cooking in his mouth and sipped on the milk as he chewed while I looked back towards the door and thought about how pretty Kiba's mother looked and so sweet of her to give us a snack as we watched her children fight each other.

Nibbling on a cookie, I almost hummed my approval but thought better of it as I didn't want to disrupt the training of one Kiba Inuzuka. Naruto smiled at me when I almost hummed and just held out another cookie for me. Picking that up and the glass of milk, we sat back and watched Kiba getting his ass whooped by his sister.

I guess we sat for a while just nibbling on the cookie and sipping on milk before it was time for the fighting pair to take a break and only then did they noticed our presence. Kiba looked surprised but his sister just huffed and told Kiba that was it for the day. Kiba just kept staring at us like that, like weirdo or something, and walked towards us, with Akamaru running to us and barking happily. I petted him and when Kiba came and sat on the edge of the deck, did he finally spoke:

"How long have you guys been here?"

"Well hello to you too, Kiba, we're fine by the way, thanks for asking" Naruto laughed and Kiba got out of his daze and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Sorry, just that I didn't notice you guy coming over, I was too into trying to beat my sister"

"Yeah, we noticed" Picking up a cookie, Naruto tossed it to Kiba who caught it but then noticed the plate of cookies and glasses of milk beside us.

"Where did you guys get those?" Do I detect a hint of accusation in his tone?

"Your mother" we said in unison but it wasn't enough for Kiba to grasp the concept, so I explained.

"Your mother, by the way she is beautiful, came out here, saw us and brought these over. We thanked her and she took off back inside. You don't believe us, ask her" I pointed behind him, so he turned to see his mother smiling down at us and she spoke

"I do hope you two liked the cookies, I made them myself" The softest voice I've ever heard graced my ears since my mother, I think.

"Oh we love them, they are very delicious, thank you ma'am" Naruto is so polite and Kiba's mother smiled, ruffled Kiba's hair and went back inside.

Naruto and I looked at Kiba in an 'I told you so' expression and he hung his head in apology. Sharing a smile, told Kiba he is forgiven and continued to eat the awesome cookies with Kiba retelling his tale of trying to beat his sister.

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Not much happen after that: we finished off the cookies and Kiba suggested a game of catch as he did have mitts and a ball. Akamaru stayed on the deck to catch some Z's instead, so we let him be to separate far from one corner to another to another and it might have looked strange but to us, it looked simple. Must have been all those other times we played catch when we spaced out each time we played.

After the first few throws, Kiba spoke up about the weekend: "So how is your weekend so far?"

"Roxanne ditched me to go training yesterday when the sun woke up" Really, you make it sound like I robbed the entire town and got back before he got up, and didn't tell him to come with me. Then again it was almost the same scenario. Ha!

"You went out training, but I thought you were going to take it easy?" Here we go then.

"I did BUT I was getting restless from NOT training and IF I kept it up then both of YOU would of seen how wired I would have been if I didn't go. Besides, Naruto took me out training that same afternoon" Smirking at Naruto when Kiba Shot a look in his direction.

"Naruto, it was YOUR idea to let her take it easy, why you backed out?"

"Yeah Naruto, why DID you backed out" threw the ball to him while he glared at me something fierce but I shrugged it off.

"I don't know, just that it has been more than 3 or 4 days since she got out and I remember she said that she lived for training and fighting when she first introduced herself to our class and so thought that maybe it was long enough and" He's rambling and with holding the ball, so Kiba and I shared a look before Kiba walked over and clapped Naruto in the shoulders.

"Dude, don't worry about it, if she is alright with it then you don't have to ramble off with explanations. Just cool it and no worries" Naruto looked to me for confirmation and I just gave him thumbs up with a smile. He relaxed then and threw the ball to me as Kiba patted him one more time and went back to his spot in the other corner.

Kiba told us about his training with his sister: how it gets rougher and challenging every other day when and if she's in the 'mood'. That got a look of confusion from Naruto and so I told him I'll tell him later.

By the time we got bored enough to start throwing the ball harder, we took a break and sat down on the deck. Kiba's mom, again, showed up and with cool glasses of lemonade. After ruffling Kiba's hair in affection, she took off as we thanked her and chuckled at Kiba's blush.

Chilling and sitting in silence, looking around the area that is the back yard of Kiba's house, I noticed a hill and so asked the guys if they wanted to climb it.

"Nothing up there but a good view of the town" That is a good enough answer and hauled Naruto up off the deck to drag him with me, leaving the mitts behind. Not much to pull then Naruto's not resisting and Kiba just sighed before following us up.

There is more foliage and plant life on the way up but when we got to the top, it dwindles down to just a clear grassy hill with a breeze. I didn't notice a pair of bodies on the grass until we got closer and Naruto fell over top of Shikamaru with an 'oof'.

"Count it on Naruto to not look where he is going, Sorry Shika" Kiba laughed as he sat down beside Choji, who is snoozing even though we arrived. Naruto scrambled off Shika and sat beside him, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as I sat beside him.

"So what you guys doing up here?" Sitting up and dusting himself off, Shika asked us.

"Well I just noticed this hill when we took a break from throwing a ball at each other and thought it better to climb this then taking each other heads off with said ball" A grunt of amusement came from Shika.

"Well, this is a good place to watch clouds and with the sun and breeze, it ain't too hot or too cool" Laying back down on the grass, Shika stared at the clouds moving slowly by and all of us did the same, enjoying the warm air and sun.

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Sometime during our little chill out with Shika and Choji, we all took a nap on the grasses and didn't get up until the sun is about to set over the horizon. Using Naruto as a pillow, who is using Kiba who is using Shika, I woke up to the darkening of the sky and poked Naruto awake who poked Kiba who poked Shika and lastly poked Choji up.

"A lot of pokes going around, eh Kiba" He laughed and stretched over Shika.

Getting up and stretching the last of our muscles, we stood and watched the sun going down in a ray of oranges and purple until it is completely gone.

Taking our time going down the hill…that flew out the window when Naruto slipped and took us down with him to the bottom of the small hill. In a tangle of limbs, I laughed while Kiba shoved everyone off and Naruto is sitting on top of us, while Shika is being squished at the bottom of us all, waving his arms frantically.

"Sorry guys" Standing with his hands up in a defensive pose as Shika and Kiba looked murderous at him. I just kept on laughing as they chased him around.

A/N: Kiba's mom I haven't seen on the show or movies but it'll be nice if she looked like that. Everything else is just off my imagination.

**Review and/or comment Please, Thanks**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: ****I know nothing except my OC and if I did then Sakura would marry Rock Lee, Sasuke would admit he can't live without Naruto and they would have babies because that's the world that makes sense :D**

**Author's Note:**** I know Shikamaru is a smart person and you won't picture him, or can't, saying some slang as "ain't" but I'll say this: Shika is a lazy ass guy and if he could, he'll be speaking text-wise with his 'whatevs' or 'g2g' or 'ttyl', so please deal with the way he speaks because he is lazy enough to be OOC, in my mind he is. Thanks. Some OOC….again and other stuff. **

_**Strange things are a brewing**_

The sun shining through the window and on my face early in the morning Monday, turning around in my comforter, I laid under there for a good 10 minutes before I just HAD to use the bathroom.

Face wash, hair in disarray and dressing into comfortable clothing for the jog this morning. One last yawn with a good stretch and small exercise that consist of jumping jacks, I am fully awake heading to the kitchen for a glass of juice and maybe fruit.

By the time I sat down with my little meal, I heard a yell, thump and scattering of footfalls above me. Naruto must have just seen the time and literally jumped out of bed to get ready, as it is 10 minutes to 4 in the morning and I did tell Naruto to be ready by then.

Listening and watching my ceiling on where the footfalls are sounding, I drank my juice and ate my fruit, hoping Naruto at least remember to grab a bite to eat before heading this way. Movement then went from the kitchen and, very loudly, out the door to the stair until it came to my door step and then the knocks came. Looking at the clock showed that it was one minute before 4 and so I got up, unlocked the door and swung it opens to see a heavy breathing Naruto, who waved at a toast in hand at me with a big bite in it.

"Good Morning Naruto, let me just grab some water and we'll head out" He nodded as he caught his breath and I went in and out of the kitchen for water bottles, throwing one at him. I checked his limbs to make sure he had the weights on as he took them home yesterday and seeing them on, I closed the door, locked it and we took off down the steps.

The morning's jog is as same as yesterday and same goes for the exercises: Naruto pushed himself and so had to catch his breath. Tai chi cooled us off and then headed home to take a quick shower before heading out again for school.

Slipping on my new gloves to go with a sleeveless shirt, and sheath the blade in my boot sides so it is hidden, I am ready and headed out to lock the door. Just as I turned around, Naruto is already there in his long sleeved shirt and cargo pants.

"Ready (he nodded) so how you want to do this: roofs or walking. Either way we'll still be early"

"It's a nice day out so let's walk there" Slinging an arm around his shoulders, we headed down the stairs and out to the sunny morning on our way to school.

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"Good Morning all" Kiba's cheerful voice alerted us of our arrival to school and hanging with him outside, yawning and rubbing his eyes is Shikamaru with Choji munching on chips. We waved and as we got closer greeted them with a good morning.

"Cool gloves you got there Roxanne, where you get them from?" Bringing my hands up to show them off better, I just shrugged at the same time as Naruto and said so in unison.

"Don't know" we looked at each other and laughed.

"Seriously though, I have no idea. Someone knocked on my door Saturday morning before I headed out and this was in a wrapped package waiting for me outside my door. I did, however, caught a scent but for the life of me cannot place it anywhere. Kind of mysterious, don't you think"

"What kind of scent?" Shika's interest is peaked; I can see it on his expression.

"Vanilla and Orchids" That made him hummed in thought as he inspected my gloves but didn't say anything.

We all shrugged as Shika kept his info to himself and Kiba led the way in to our classroom while Naruto tried to get some chips off Choji. Keyword: tried. It's like trying to take a piece of fish from a hungry bear: it just won't happen and you'll just end up with a stump for a hand.

Stepping into class, I didn't hear the sounds of arguments or screeching from the girls like I usually do and so raised an eyebrow at the scene. The girls seated themselves on the top and bottom row of Sasuke's row but didn't sit on his row. When Sasuke tried to look my way, I looked away and asked Naruto and Kiba what the ish is going on here in which they shrugged in confusion and slight anxiety.

"I have NO IDEA, and it's freaking me out" Silently we went to our table on the top row and sat, looking strangely at everyone else. All the boys in class looked freaked out and a bit jumpy about the girls not being the way they usually are and I would have thought about it more, but pink and blonde disrupted my vision.

"Good Morning guys" Sakura smiled and Ino waved.

"Good Morning Sakura and Ino, what's up?" I spoke for our group since they are weird out about the class and looking around like a ghost just might jump out of nowhere.

"Nothing, just wanted to say hi and see how you are doing?" Really now

"Well, I'm doing much better now and getting back into training. But…something is up today, what is it, Sakura?" A small blush tinted her cheeks as she and Ino looked elsewhere that isn't at me.

"Nothing, nothing at all" the smell of liars is similar to brimstone when they sweat, even just a little bit and combined with 2 of them here, lying through their teeth, it is noticeable to me.

"Then would you please explain why it is so normal this morning?" Placing my head on my hand on the table as I looked at them both, fidgeting in place.

"It's always normal" At that comment, the boys snapped their heads in the girl's direction with a look of disbelief and I swear they could have had whiplash if it weren't for the fact they are distracted.

"Normal, this isn't normal, Sakura. What is normal in THIS class is ALL of you fighting and arguing over a seat next to Sasuke and yet it's freakishly quiet. What the hell" Kiba made a good point about that and Naruto nodded in agreement.

"What, no we don't" Sakura's voice reached a high note and that sealed the deal.

"Oh, come off it, Pinky! What's really going on?" Sakura and Ino shared a look before walking up to us and crouched in between mine and Kiba's seat, with Ino in between Naruto's and mine seat.

"When Sasuke came in this morning and you know how he comes into class early?" She whispered ever so quietly and we nodded, well the boys nodded, I didn't really notice.

"Well we (she gestured to herself and Ino) came right in after and he actually spoke to us"

"Actually more like demanded from us" Ino's 2 cents had made her shiver a bit, in fear or excitement, I don't know.

"Ok, anyways, he said he was tired of us all girls acting all girlish towards him and said that IF anyone keeps up what we usually do every morning, then he is going to do something about it. And he didn't say what. Kind of scary to see him so determine to keep us, girls, quiet and at a distance, so he told us to spread the word BUT to NOT say anything about it to you guys. I guess he didn't think it through if you guys think it's weird to see us girls behaving normal"

Of course it was Sasuke's doing and knowing the girls will comply with whatever Sasuke says, then it is done but still weird and Naruto says so.

"I know right, but don't say anything; we weren't supposed to tell you, ok?" We nodded in agreement and the girls took off back to their seats but before they did, Sakura spoke.

"Nice gloves by the way, they look good"

"Thanks" I sensed an ear being perked by the mention of my gloves but it went as fast as it came.

I looked at Kiba then at Naruto who both looked at the girls as they walked away and so I just shrugged, unraveled my tail to lay limp to the side of my chair and waited for Iruka to come in and start class.

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Quiet, just quiet during class time and recess, I know over time we'll get used to it but for now it's just creepy to see the girls quiet and behaving like ladies and quiet.

Nearing the end of class, Naruto is fidgeting like crazy and Kiba is twitching at any sudden movements or sounds. Like Holy Crap, is this really getting to them and I wonder how they'll be like tomorrow?

The second the bell rang, both Kiba and Naruto grabbed my wrist and literally dragged me, flying out the door. As far away from the school yard did we go and only when we couldn't see the academy building did they stop. Jerking my wrist out of their hands, I shoved them away and yelled at them.

"What the fuck has gotten into you two; you are acting like fucking rabid squirrels are after you?" They looked around them and came closer to whisper in a scared kind of way.

"Today's class freaked us out and maybe I thought that the girls might all of a sudden jump us or something, sorry" Naruto explanation made no sense whatsoever and Kiba is just keeping his eyes out for something. I sighed angrily and loudly before that anger made me I do something I am not proud of, even to this day: I punched their lights outs.

They flew far and got knocked out cold on the ground. So, like a good guilty feeling person, I dragged their unconscious body to the shade of a big tree and sat down, waiting.

That was stupid of me but it was even more stupid to act like a bunch of addicts just because the girls were weird today. Come on, girls are weird in this village and if they CAN change, which I did see today, then let it happen but Instead my friends acted like a bunch of pansies. (Sighs)

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I waited a good 2 hours, cleaning my nails, before the heads of the boys started to shake off the last of unconscious from their muddled brains and they groan from the hurt.

"What the heck happen, Kiba?"

"I don't know man, last thing I know a big fist was coming my way and all went black after"

"Serves you both right for being little wusses over a bunch of girls" At the sound of my voice they both snapped their necks my way BUT that was a bad move on their parts when they moaned in more hurt.

"Well shit Roxanne, you just had to have a punch like a man, huh" Kiba lay back down on the ground but Naruto tried to sit up and keyword here is tried.

"You know Roxanne, you could have just smacked us, and it would have sent the message across"

"Yes BUT I had to endure the physical torment you both supplied during class time with all your twitching and fidgeting and jumpiness. However, my actions in trying to resolve this DID go over board and so I'm sorry" They both waved me off from their position on the ground and I knew I was forgiven.

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Not much occurred after that, we hung out at Kiba's and watched his sister beat the crap out of him. His mom came and sat with us as she gave pointers to Kiba in his attempt to best his sister. She made us rice crispy squares with a glass of milk, which was to die for and Naruto thanked her over and over again until she silence him with a hand on his mouth, THAT made him blush like a red tomato.

When we've been there long enough to see Kiba get defeated over and over again, we said our good byes and headed out to one of the training grounds for a short session.

From the looks of the sun, we had a good couple hours to kill before it gets dark and so I told Naruto to continue on his Grass Floaty Technique: I have no idea what to call it and went with what Naruto called it once.

As he concentrated, I sat underneath a tall tree and meditated as I haven't meditated for a while now and so since Naruto will be busy with his technique, I will be busy with this.

When I closed my eyes, I listen to life around me. The trees swaying, the critters scurrying about and Naruto's quiet cursing.

In my mind's eye, I pictured an open desert plain with rocks here and there, the wind whipping around me and the sun scorching from above. Picturing a phantom partner, taller and bigger than me, with a mask to cover his face and got into a defensive stance.

This is how I build up my mind's defense, by working it like I work my body so they will be in sync and at the same levels. Getting into an offensive stance, I attacked first and that began the longest fight in my life, well in my mind and not the outside.

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2 hours later, I think, the mental image of me is battered, bruise and bloodied but very happy with the end result. My opponent is faced down on the ground, breathing hard and trying it's mightiest to get back up on its feet but can't as I have worked it too hard to begin with.

Taking a couple deep breaths, my racing heart is now slowed to its normal pace and I started on my stretches, so when I awake, the mental exercise of my workout will not have me aching later on. Waving the opponent away, I sat down on the hot desert sand, with my legs crossed and kept my back straight as I closed my eyes and proceeded to go through the steps of waking up back to the real world.

Breath in; breath out, and feeling the wind on my face, the sounds of the forest around me and…no cursing from Naruto, which is strange but I do hear breathing nearby. Cracking open my eyes, Naruto's face is right up to mine and that actually surprised me, so I fell backwards on the ground as I yelled out 'what the hell'

Lying on the ground, I see the skies turning orange and then Naruto face came back into my view, with a sheepish smile and a nervous chuckle.

"Sorry about that Roxanne, I was wondering what you were doing and you didn't react when I called your name" Pushing him lightly as I sat back up and sigh.

"Naruto, have you ever seen anybody in a meditative state?" He shook his head.

"Well now you did, so please if I am sitting the way I was then it'll be a good idea if you didn't have your face right in mine again or else I'll be the one to scare the crap out of you, ok" He nodded

"Great, help me up and we'll head back home" hand already out, I hauled myself up and we walked back the way to our apartment building.

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_**Surprise comes in a box**_

Lights shining in, alarm and clock ticking away and I am getting ready with strapping my weights on, and then counted from 5 with my fingers while looking up at the ceiling.

Thump, thump, scurrying from one place to another, thump, slam and then a second later, Naruto knocks on my door. I laughed as I tell him the door is open and when his head peeks in, I laugh again.

"What's so funny?" Giving me a funny look to go with his question.

"A lot of things Naruto and at the moment them being you, in a good way though" He shrugs

"Got your weights on?" He nods

"Good lets head out now and have a good breakfast when we get back, ok"

"Yeah!" Leading us out, I locked the door and grab him to haul him on my back as I ran and jump for it over the railing. His yelling just made me laugh harder on the way down and when I landed on the roof of the nearby building, I dropped his ass and kept right on running.

"Hey" I hear behind me but I just laughed and ran faster over the roof tops.

Footfalls could be heard behind me and then I saw Naruto by my side, keeping up as he smirks at me. I smirked back but for a whole different reason.

When we neared the wall, I used my chakra to propel myself high in the air and it felt great to soar with the wind. I looked back to see Naruto standing on the edge of the building I jumped off of, with his mouth open and I stuck my tongue out at him. That got him out of it and so started again on his running to the wall.

Descending to the ground, I lined my feet with chakra so the landing will be cushioned and with a hand on the concrete wall, I looked towards Naruto who is now coming up from his run. A little out of breath is a good sign that the early morning training we are doing is working, Naruto put a hand on the wall and then looked up at me.

"How the hell do you do that, do shit out of the blue and scare the crap out of me?"

"Wow, you said shit" I chuckled at him and began stretching. Sighing, Naruto started on his and soon enough, we started to jog in the warm early morning.

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Walking up the steps, Naruto is telling me that we should wear our weight to school today and I thought it is a great idea and was about to say so, when something shiny caught my eye.

There, by my door step, like the day before is a package, wrapped in purple shiny paper that glitters with the morning light and tied off with a white bow.

"Wow" is all that came from me and Naruto copied my expression when he saw the package.

"Whoa" He then stepped closer to the package and my door while I followed, scanning the hallway to check if I can catch anything this time. A whiff of the air and I caught a scent of vanilla this time, just vanilla. Raising an eyebrow in the direction of the stairs, I walked to Naruto as he picked up the package and examine it.

Getting out my keys, I unlocked the door and went in, followed by Naruto holding the package carefully.

Grabbing 2 glasses, I poured us some orange juice and set them on the table just as Naruto set the package down.

"What do you think it is?" I shrugged and waved at him.

"You open it" He looked at me in surprise and looked back at the item.

"You sure" I nodded as I sipped on my juice.

Carefully and slowly, Naruto unwrap the package, trying not to rip off the bow or the wrapping and set those on the table. With the covering gone, it revealed a small black box and then Naruto pushed it toward me.

"You open it now" Taking the small box, I took off the top and all words left me, literally.

Naruto looked at my expression before taking a peek in the box and he gasped at its content.

In the box, on a soft material is a round silver bracelet with white shiny stones all around it and we just stared at it for a while.

I blinked and picked up the round object only to realize that it's a little big to be a bracelet because it dangled more loosely for it to be one. Naruto held his hand out for the item and I handed over.

"Is it a bracelet?" I shook my head "It's a little big for that and it looks like it's a little small for an anklet too" Naruto handed it back and picked up his glass for a sip.

"So what's it for?" I shrugged as I took a good look at the round thing and felt its smooth edges.

Out of nowhere, the tip of my tail came into my sights and it waved around like it's telling me something of importance.

Something clicked after that.

Handling my tail carefully, I slid the bracelet thingy on my tail and it fit like a glove as Naruto gasped and gaped at the end result. I am…I don't know…overwhelmed I guess with…something, that someone had got me a gift fit for my tail and I just don't know how to express it except to smile as my tail waves around proudly with the round thing on it.

"Let's call it a tailet" Saying that out of nowhere, I gave Naruto a 'what the fuck' expression as he smiles at my tail in awe and when I saw me, he began explaining.

"Well, a bracelet is for the wrist, an anklet is for the ankle, and so this one can be called a tailet for the tail" He smiled at his brilliant idea and I had to laugh: Naruto does have his good moments of intellect.

"Yes, we shall call it that, thanks Naruto" He waved his hands at me.

"Don't thank me, thank whoever got you that because it is such a great idea" I nodded and looked at my tail with a smile. Yes, when I find out who done this, I will thank them.

After that I shooed Naruto out the door and told him to take a shower quickly and then we'll have a quick breakfast before heading to class. With an 'ok' he's gone and I'm left standing there holding onto air, where Naruto's form used to be and I sighed before closing the door. Heading to the bathroom for a shower, I undressed on the way and cleaned up.

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Gel in my hair, I heard a knock and yelled to Naruto that the door's still open. 'Ok' I heard from him and I continued fixing my hair as I could see from my open bathroom door that Naruto came in and went straight for the kitchen to fix something up for the both of us.

Turning back to the mirror and with gel on my hand, I swept it to one side as I used my other hand to stand it upwards. While doing this, I watched my tail sway behind me and smiled at the shiny round object still on it. It is really a good, thoughtful gift.

Washing my hands, I dried them and headed out to the kitchen, where a plate and glass full of juice waited for me. As I sat down, Naruto sat also and we ate in comfortable silence.

"I really like your tailet, Roxanne, it suits it really well" I felt my face blush just a bit but I smiled nonetheless at the compliment and nodded in thanks.

Finishing up, we put the dishes in the sink and told Naruto I'll wash them later as we headed out.

"How abouts you want to do this?" I asked as we had a lot of time to get to the academy.

"Walk" I nodded and we took off to the stairwell.

Another beautiful day in Konoha: with the birds singing and some businesses getting ready for the day. I sigh as I put my hand behind my head and watched the skies while walking. Naruto is twirling around here and there while telling be a story about a time when it rained for a whole week.

"I've actually seen a place where it rained for a whole month and they called it the monsoon season but it only lasted for a month, NOT a season"

"A month?!" He roared and I nodded

"Whoa, that must have been a lot of water to walk through"

"Yeah, the river nearby almost overflowed but they fixed it with some sacks filled with sand"

"Hmm"

"Good Morning!" Kiba waving at us from the entrance and so we waved back.

Just himself this time Kiba smiled at Naruto before he gave me a skeptic look.

"You are going to hit us today if we freak out like yesterday?"

"Probably, IF I get annoyed enough but IF you are good little boy then I won't lay a hand on you, ok" They nodded and I was about to lead us inside when Kiba gasped.

"Holy Crapola! Is that a bracelet you have for your tail, where you'd get it from?" Coming closer but not touching, Kiba examined the tailet.

"It's not a bracelet, we agreed to call it a tailet since it's for her tail and won't fit on her wrist OR ankle" I laughed at Naruto's explanation and nodded at Kiba in agreement.

"Hmm, tailet…I like it" Clapping him on the back, we made our way to the entrance and to the class.

Coming into class and like yesterday it is quiet. With quiet murmurs from the girls in their girl talk about girl's things and the guys chilling but most taking a nap before class starts, which included Shika. Choji is munching on a bag of chips and minding everything around him.

"Please don't hit us again, we promise to behave" Kiba whispers and Naruto nodded. I laughed and told them I'll think about it as I followed the boys up to our row. Along the way, the quiet murmurs became silent and out of nowhere I got bombarded from all sides…by the girls.

These girls are ruthless if they want to be and silent too, this is what having a groupie feels like?

"How cute"

"Where you'd get it from"

"It's so beautiful"

And on and on they went until I realized that I left my tail unwrapped and swaying behind me, showing our classroom my new gift. Grr!

None of them dared to touch it though but Sakura asked nicely if they could see it closely and I looked at her in a calculating kind of way before answering: "You'll be careful?"

"So Careful, you won't even feel it" and with those big pleading puppy dog eyes too. So I sighed and nodded my consent.

They stared at first and soon enough, I felt soft and warm hands on my tail. I shivered a bit from the feeling but I did not show it and then the girls got brave enough to start petting my tail like a small animal and complimenting on my tailet, that's when I started purring. Purring and with my eyes closed, I felt the soft hands touching the tailet and my tail at the same time.

It felt exquisite and soothing to be petted with nice hands. My purring got louder and then felt the hands stop what they are doing so I open my eyes to see the girls looking at me. They let go of my tail and, very loudly, squealed like girls do which I had to cover my ears to save my ear drums.

"Ever so Cute"

"You purr like a kitten"

"That is so awesome"

And on and on they went that even when I left them standing there, they still threw me compliments and so I thanked them for handling my tail carefully. That got them riled up again and some even blushed.

Sitting down, both Kiba and Naruto stared at me for the longest time until I sighed and addressed them.

"What?"

"Nothing" they said in unison and looked to the front of the class. I in turned looked at them and just as I was going to put my head down for a minute, I see a small blush forming on their cheeks.

"What?" I asked again and crossed my arms over my chest, waiting.

"Well…"

"It felt good to hear you purr" that spouted out from Kiba's Mouth quickly and I guess unexpectedly, if the blush is anything to go by and a hand clamped over his mouth.

"Yeah, you seemed happy, even if it was for a moment" I smiled and brought my arms down on my desk to lay my head on.

"Yeah, it felt awesome and made me relax. I thought they might be rough with my tail after what had happen but I didn't expect that to happen" I smiled in a dreamy sort of way and Naruto asked something.

"How did it feel like?" I looked his way with a smile.

"It felt like floating on air or when someone pets your hair and you fall asleep. It just felt…Great"

"Wow" they said in unison.

I just nodded my head as I sat there with a content look on my face and when Iruka came in to start the class, I didn't pay attention to him, only to the feeling I had at being petted nicely.

It reminded me of a time when I was little and had my mother pet my hair while I try to go to sleep, I forgot how that felt…until today and it brought a smile to me face.

**So PLZ Review and/or Comment as my writing depends on the reviews/comments, if I didn't get any reviews/comments then I'll just leave it hanging right in the middle and move on to my next story….which will confuse the hell out of yous…maybe…then again that story is good all on its own.**

**Whatever.**

**Thanks and Review!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimers: **I own nothing, just borrowing them to extract my minds' story and make it come to life.

**A/N: **It been so long since I looked in here, and thought "Shit! I gotta get back in my game and not let ppls hang in the cliffness of the story" and so here it is: Enjoys!

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**Forgiveness or forgetting**

I would say every day is the same since I got back: jog and exercise early in the morning, go to classes, hang out with either Kiba or Shika or both, head out for late afternoon training, head home and have diner before heading to bed.

Still needed a couple more weeks before this big exam and I've been working Naruto hard after he had finished his Floaty Technique quite early he showed me and as soon as he did, I told him his real training will start. If the weights he had started with are starting to feel a little light, I upgraded him and I do the same for myself.

During our afternoon training, we make clones and fight them, as I have allowed Naruto to begin in the intensive workout with me and that included being attacked by our clones. After that or before, which ever, we just chakra lined feet or hands to climb the tallest trees and hang on for as long as possible, while being attacked by clones. This helps in doing multiple things at once and works out both the mind and body.

Naruto has come a long way and in a short time too which had me impressed with his driven nature.

After one intense workout, we headed home and chatted aimlessly about this and that. Hell I even mention whether or not Naruto has noticed a little someone staring at him with dreamy eyes but he just looked at me like 'what'. It's cute sometimes that Naruto is dense but this is ridiculous. I know Kiba noticed but hasn't said anything about it.

Walking up the steps, Naruto kept asking who I meant and I was about to answer him when I just stopped on my floor looking towards my door in which had Naruto bump into me from behind.

"What?" I gestured for Naruto to see.

"Do you see what I see?" Looking where my finger is pointed, Naruto gasped and ran over to a big package sitting by my door.

"This is a big one and not like the other ones, open it" Standing there for a good minute, I shrugged and I walked over to open my door, went in, leaving the package behind.

"Hey wait" He picked up the big box with no wrapping but had a big bow tied around it.

Setting the box on top of my table, Naruto sat while I stood as we are looking at it.

"What do you think it is, Roxanne?" I just shrugged as walked closer to untie the bow.

"You know this is starting to be a little freaky that someone, we don't rightly know who, is always sending you things and very expensive things too, I might add" Nodding, I slid the box over to me as Naruto stood up and took the top off.

Sitting nestled in the box is a white bear, with a blue shirt on and a headband with the Konoha logo on it. Picking it up, I turned it around and around, trying to find something that will tell me who it's from.

"What's this?" Naruto says picking up a card at the bottom of the box and showing it to me.

"Can you guess now? What does that mean" I shrugged at the question and held up the bear facing me as I took a really good look at it and tried to figure out what the card meant.

'**Click'** just like a switch came on and just now I realized where or who it's from.

"Sasuke" Naruto head shot up quickly.

"What?" I turned the bear so it's facing Naruto.

"Who does this look like to you from our class?"

"Hmm" Taking the bear from my hands and examining it good, Naruto then exclaims:

"It looks like Sasuke!" I nodded and took the bear from him to set it in front of me on the table as I sat down also.

"But why" Really, is he asking me why?

"Why not, I think it a way of him apologizing with gifts and not words as you remember I told him his words are like ash to me. He's found out a way to say he's sorry without actually saying it"

"By buying you gifts, isn't that like buying your forgiveness?" Very good, Naruto

"Yes but the things he got me before were expensive and hard to find in a village like ours. This one is easy to find though and I guess the shirt and headband were self-made from materials he gathered"

"So what you going to do"

Yes what should I do, all the gifts I've been receiving have been thoughtful and useful, and yet I have no idea what to do: should I thank him or just play it dumb and pretend I don't know?

"It has been a couple weeks now since you actually spoke to him and from what we've seen from these gifts; he probably wants you to talk to him again. You know forgive and forget"

"It's the forgetting part I have a problem with, Naruto, how can I forget what he's done. What would you do if he did the same thing to you, if you had a tail that is?"

"Well…..I would have bashed his head in for even touching me and never speak to him again but that's just me, it wouldn't mean anything to him if I never spoke to him again. I know he doesn't like me or even wants to hang around with me" Down cast his eyes in silent as he said this and it sadden me to see him like this.

"Naruto, Sasuke is a…..how do I put this politely…..a douche, with an ego wider then this town and probably thinks he can get away with things because he's an Uchiha but" I walked over to where Naruto is sitting and knelt down so I am at eyelevel with him, lifting his chin with a finger.

"But he is nothing compared to you and your wonderfulness. If it is possible, he probably wish to be you right now instead of an Uchiha"

"Really?"

"I guarantee it" Smiling the thousand watt smile at me, I kissed his cheek and stood back up.

"Hypnotically, let's say that he does like you and wants to hang out with you so bad but did what he did to me to you, would you have forgotten what had happen and forgive him?" Naruto thought about this one for a while and while he does, I got up and started on a simple dinner for two of rice, diced meat and veggies.

Finishing the last touches and grabbing 2 cups of cool water from the fridge, I set a plate down in front of Naruto and sat down with my plate, with the water nearby.

"Um" are the first words I heard just as I am about to bring a spoonful of rice to my mouth and looked towards Naruto in question.

"I would have forgiven him but it would have taken a bit more of time to forget what had happen. To forget would mean that you erase the incident and I think it's better to learn from it then forget it. So I wouldn't forget it, just know better about it and get over it. It will take time, Roxanne but until then, I'd say give the boy a chance to redeem himself" Wow. A rare insight indeed of the intellectual that Naruto holds is amazing.

"Hmmm. I'll think about it for now" Smiling at him, I finally put the spoonful in my mouth and Naruto smiled back as he dug in his dinner.

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That night after Naruto left for the night, I set the bear on my night stand and sat on my bed, thinking of the revelations that Naruto bestowed upon me and in who is responsible for sending me these gifts.

Sasuke

When I think about him, I think of how I just noticed nowadays he's more secluded in class and the quietest. During our recess time, he just sits by a tree and looks around, the girls give him his space and that's pretty much all. Now that I think of it, he doesn't socialize with anyone and keeps to himself. When Iruka tried to engage him in class with a question, he just shrugs and looks out the window.

I have no idea what to think of this, I mean before the incident, Sasuke was always answering the questions asked of him and sometimes social with the girls or even some of the other boys, even participating in the class and recess.

Did my assault and insult batter him enough to cause him to burrow in himself and stay there until a light showed him the way back to society? Am I the light? Should I forget about the heinous act he displayed that caused me my injury?

I'm having trouble with the forgetting part but I can forgive him, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Is this sooner or later or mid later?

Swinging my tail around I brought it closer, rubbing the fur from the tip to the end and I did not feel anything. Keeping it wrapped around my waist has helped in the healing process but that was a long time ago, I think a day or two it was tender but after that my tail just felt normal again. Staring at my tail as I pet it soothes me for a good few minutes.

"Should I talk to him again?" asking my tail and I knew it won't answer me back, so I just let that hung in the air as I got ready for bed.

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Getting ready for Naruto to come by, I stared at the bear while sitting on my bed and for the life of me which I don't get; I have totally mixed feelings about this whole Sasuke thing.

Yes it was sweet of him to get those hard to find gifts, and yes they were beautiful and yet I don't know how to feel about this.

I just don't know and there's Naruto's knock so I yelled at him that it's open. Coming in and walking to my bedroom door, he leaned against and watched me as I stared at the bear.

"So what's the verdict?" I sighed loudly and ran a hand through my hair.

"I don't know Naruto; I don't know how I feel about it and whether I should. I can forgive him but"

"But"

"That where I get cut off, I can but….I don't know"

"You know what I think?"

"Please"

"I think you should but as a trial offer. Like a probation thing where if he screws up then that's it" hmmm…that is actually a good idea.

"Wow, that's actually a good idea, Naruto: a trial offer" and it is a good idea because then we'll know if Sasuke truly is sorry for his mistake.

"Now that is settled, let's work" Clapping me on the back, Naruto laughs and we take off for our morning routine of jogging and exercise.

Before it would of tired Naruto out on the 1.5 miles mark of our jog but after doing this daily, with weights no less, that mark has moved up to 4 miles and Naruto gets tired when we are 3.5 miles from the mark. Good, eh?

25 of every exercise we did before is now up to 50 and soon it's be higher or tougher, either way we are making good timing.

The cooling down part, however, is the same as always and walking back, enjoying the morning air is just as relaxing.

Getting home for a shower and change of clothes, Naruto is already in my kitchen setting the table with orange juice and fruits on a plate as I dried my hair. Letting it air dry and without gel, I decided to just leave it all wavy and whatnots.

Going in the kitchen, I sat down just as I slipped the tail-let back on and we had a pleasant meal in comfortable silence as I ate the fruits that Naruto cut up and took a sip from my juice.

Little did I know that what I have decided will have a huge impact on what's to come, but no thoughts of mine went there as I ate my fruit and smiled at Naruto across the table.

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Cloudy skies today but no chance of rain, it would have been nice to walk in a little drizzle today.

Coming up to the sights of the academy, it's surprising to see no one at the entrance area waiting and Naruto voiced his disbelief at the scene.

"Hmm, must be Monday but isn't there usually someone out here, girl or boy?"

"Must be one of those days where people aren't where they usually are and are in an unusual place"

"Unusual place, School is unusual?"

"Hands down, Naru, hands down that school is unusual. I mean come on: teachers, when you're not looking, want to bang their heads against their desk when class is a ruckus and would rather get a paper cut then grade our papers. So school is unusual with unusual teachers teaching unusual kids at unusual hours of the day"

"Hmm" Naruto scratches his head in confusion but shrugs nonetheless at my statement.

Opening the doors, I sighed in relief when I hear from a distance the loud arguments our class is emitting and Naruto laughs by my side.

"They are back and it's only been what, 2 weeks?"

"More or less" Shrugging, I open the door and the scene before me is as familiar as it was before:

The girls all yelling at each other on who gets to sit with Sasuke,

Sasuke with his head on his arms looking like he doesn't want to be here at all,

the boys sitting in their seats ignoring everything else around them.

"Isn't this nice?" I quietly say to Naruto as he tries to keep a straight face and nods.

Gesturing for him to go first, his straight face turns to a smile as he steps up the stairs and waves in greeting to Kiba and Shikamaru.

I, however, had a different course in mind when I stopped and turned to where Sasuke sits with his head on his arms as he hasn't noticed yet.

The girls did though, as did everyone else and silence rang through the classroom. Standing next to an empty seat next to where Sasuke sits, I cleared my throat for his attention and when he glanced at me, he had to do a double take to make sure I am standing there.

Giving a small smile directed at him had Sasuke staring at me with very wide, very surprised eyes and his mouth slightly open as he tries to stand on shaky legs. This amused me greatly and my tail sways behind me in joy at the boy's reaction but then lay limp over my shoulder, showing the jewelry very nicely.

Only when Sasuke stood, did I addressed him: "Good Morning Sasuke"

Quiet gasps and slight shuffling were the only sounds that could be heard, aside from Sasuke's hard breathing, in which I assume he is hyperventilating and so I must make this Very Short before he couldn't remember what I had said and passes out.

"Sasuke, I would like to thank you for the gifts you have given me in what I assume to be a way of apologizing for your disastrous actions some weeks ago" Numbly nodding and holding his breath "I have decided that I will forgive you (gasps and muttering as Sasuke releases his breath and smiles widely) BUT (quiet again) on a trial basis of course" Looks of confusion littered his face and every one else's. "It means that it will be a trial friendship, like probation and if you screw up in anyway, it will be terminated and we will never speak again. Am I clear?"

His head bobbed up and down quickly that it looked like it just might fall off; with a smile I nodded and turned back to the steps on the way up to my seat. Turning to my seat, Kiba had an eyebrow raised and Naruto had a small smile.

"A trial friendship" Kiba asked.

"My idea" Naruto answers and I smile

"And a very good one, look at Sasuke" They both turned to where I am looking to see the size of his smile.

"If he wasn't always compose, then he'll be jumping for joy and whooping" Watching him sit down, the smile never left his face, even when he looked up to see us watching him and waved at us in which we all waved back.

"He'll probably do it where no one will be watching or listening" Kiba countered and Naruto smiled a mischievous smile.

"Wanna bet" Kiba turned to Naruto with a smirk.

"I bet he'll do it when he asks to go to the bathroom" Naruto

"I bet he'll wait until after class lets out and runs off to somewhere secluded" Kiba

"And if one of you win?" I asked, intrigued

"Then the loser pays for the winner's lunch for a week" Kiba says and that statement had Naruto thinking.

"Do you agree with those terms, Naruto?" I ask as Kiba and I stared at Naruto for his answer.

"Deal" and struck out his hand to shake.

"Deal it is then" They shook on it and faced ahead just as Iruka walked in with the morning greeting.

"I'll decide who wins, be keeping an eye on Sasuke until such a time happens" I whispered and they both nodded in agreement.

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Naruto won!

Not long after class started, Sasuke asked to use the bathroom and I made a clone, discreetly, to follow him. When my clone puffed away, did I get its memories and I wanted to laugh.

What I remember is following Sasuke to the bathroom, waited outside and that when I heard it, so I peaked in and saw Sasuke whooping and jumping around. I had to cover my mouth to keep any laughter in and then puffed away.

My silent giggles did slip and got the attention of both boys whom looked my way in question.

"Naruto wins" I whispered but Kiba didn't keep quiet at all.

"What?!" and that got everyone's attention to us.

"Is there anything you like to add to class, Kiba?" Iruka asks the perpetrator in disturbing his class and scared him, but he won't admit it out loud.

"Sorry, Iruka-sensei, thought I heard something"

"Hmm….ok class back to the problem at hand…" and he trailed away as Kiba leaned over and repeated his outburst in a more quiet tone.

"Naruto won because I followed Sasuke when both of yous were distracted by the teaching of one Iruka-sensei. So I guess Kiba will be paying for Naruto's lunch for the entire week, wonder where should we go?" Laughing at Kiba's groan and the 'thunk' sound his head made when it made contact with his desk. Naruto smiled widely and crossed his hand behind his head, looking smug at the results just as Sasuke came back to class with a smile that almost had me laughing again.

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Recess came along shortly and once again, me and guys grabbed some mitts and started throwing the ball around. Making fault throws at any unsuspecting person within range and throwing it as fast as one would throw kunai or shurikans. A distance away sat Sasuke on the steps with his groupies on the side but he paid them no mind as his attention is to our little game of catch.

We decided to add a bit of fun to our catch game and it went like this: Whoever has the ball has a short time limit of 5 seconds to add 3 words to a story we are making up before they can throw the ball and if they can't come up with 3 words, they are out.

So far everyone is still in and laughing at the little story we are making up, for they are hilarious. Soon enough, Shika couldn't stand up because of laughing too hard and that ended up with him being out. Still snickering, he made his way to where Choji is seated and sat himself down to watch the rest of our little game. Having the ball in my hand, I walked over to where Shika dropped his glove and thought for a good moment before speaking.

"Sasuke" His head shot up so fast, it's possible he got whiplash but disregarding that, I waved the glove at him.

"Wanna join in?" I heard mumbling first before I heard someone running.

"Sure" Sasuke says with a big grin and I hand over the glove.

"Awesome, we are playing a little word game with our catches. The main thing is that you have to come up with a sentence of 3 words to go with the sentence of someone else to make up a story of sorts and the time limit is 5 seconds. You game?" He nodded and so I threw the ball at him.

"You're first up" walking back to my spot, I watched as Sasuke thought for a good second before coming up with the beginning of a story and threw the ball at Naruto.

When the bell rang, most of us were laughing again but this time with a crowd of our class laughing along with us.

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**Thanks for any reviews that this story has been getting, Thanks to the ones who follow the story and **

**Thanks to those who are still out there reading it and waiting.**

**Review and/or comment**

**Either way you're writing to me :D**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing except my imagination that comes to life when I think really hard enough.

**A/N: **You asked for it and shall receive so…Enjoy!

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**Strange Behavior**

Groaning.

Groaning.

And more Groaning coming from my left side.

You would think an animal is dying from all that noise…..alas it's not.

Its Kiba…groaning while looking at the clock as it ticks it's way to 12 o'clock: lunch hour.

As Kiba sits in mental agony, Naruto seems to be content in watching Kiba suffer and looking at the clock with a smirk and clicking his tongue in rhythm with the clock.

I, however, am annoyed; annoyed with the groaning on my left and the clicking on my right.

And I don't like it one bit.

So as soon as the bell rang to signal lunch and Iruka sensei turned his back to head on out, I pushed my arms out and shoved both boys off their chairs and down on the floor with a thud.

'Humph' I stood up and walked away, down the steps and out the door, with the rest of the class laughing.

"Hey wait up" was going to ignore it but it was a girl's voice so I turn around to see Pinky and Blondie running to catch up with me along with a couple more girls.

"What's up with that back there" Sakura asked as we started walking again.

"They were annoying me" is all I said and I guess it was a good enough answer because the girls started giggling.

"Brilliant"

"We so didn't expect that" said a brown haired girl and I just smiled.

"Excellent, so want to come to lunch with us, you know, just us girls" opening my mouth to accept, I got stopped by the sounds of feet running and my name being called.

"Roxanne, hey wait up" Us girls turned our heads to see Kiba, Naruto and Sasuke running up to us but skidding to a stop when they saw who I am with.

"Roxanne, I thought we were going to lunch" Scoffing, I smirked at Naruto.

"Sorry sweetie but after that display of undignified behavior, I've decided that I rather have lunch with the girls this time" Looks of fallen faces from the opposite gender "But" now looks of hopefulness "Sasuke, you may join us, that is if you don't mind being an eye candy for the next hour and a half for my girls" That got the girls squealing as I smirked at Sasuke's face losing its color.

Stepping back a step and waving his hands in front of him, Sasuke declined my invitation and claimed he'll have lunch the boys instead. Looking at the chest fallen expression on the girls, I walked off with a satisfied smile.

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Hour and half and who knew I'd learn a lot from these girls. Although the first half hour was about everything about Sasuke Uchiha and only when they had nothing to add, I asked them about Konoha life. That got the imaginary ball rolling.

The one that got my attention is the Exam and Sakura being the smartest one "After Sasuke, of course" she explained how these exams go about. One by one, they'll take student to the other room and give them tests to complete. The main priority is of course chakra control and if mastered then these tests should be a cake walk. Hmmm, cake.

The ones that don't make it, have to go another year at the academy before they can take the test again and the ones that do make it will be assign to a 4 man cell, and this I already knew so I got Sakura to skip on ahead. From what she knows, the new Genin have to wait a year before they can try out for the Chunin exams in which other Shinobi's from other villages will gather in one place and take a 3 part exams. That exam she knows nothing about and so I thanked her just as dessert came. Hmm, cake.

After explaining that this a special treat, I paid for lunch and we took off back to the academy, with full stomachs and hearty laughs. The girls wanted to know about the many places I've been and the other cultures I've seen, along with the fashion. Laughing, I talked nonstop all the way from the restaurant to the gates of the academy and my stories had the girls' attention throughout.

When we are about to see the entrance, I just finished my story and the girls sighed in content (?).

"That was awesome, Roxanne, who knew you went as far was the Rain Village, I mean that is very far" Waving it off.

"Nah, when you start on your missions, then you'll be able to have your own journeys to tell and what a story that'll be" Giggling at that, we turned to the entrance and the girls smiled more at the sight.

The boys are waiting and it looks like very anxiously. Sakura nudged me in a teasing manner but I just smiled as we got closer and Kiba stood with both Naruto and Sasuke.

"You know, Roxanne, you could of just knocked us out, it would of sent a clearer message then what you did" I just smiled as the girls laughed.

"You knocked them out, when" Ino asked

"That time you girls were 'normal' and they freaked out so I had to do what I had to do" That got them laughing again and walked in the academy.

"If I had knocked you all out then I would have sat waiting for you to come around and that would have cut in on my lunch hour. So tis better to eat then wait to eat. Besides, I had a great time with the girls, even if I don't understand them" Shrugging at them, I walked in but then the boys caught up and Naruto spoke.

"Next time thou, can you just smack us?" Really?

"Really want me to smack you if you act like the way you did this morning?" They all nodded and my brain stopped for a moment when I realized something: they rather have me punish them with violence then not hang out with me. And that is just fucked up but I just nodded.

Heading to class, the boys talked about what they had for lunch and how both Naruto and Sasuke got Kiba to pay for all of them, they laughed at Kiba mumbling about persuasive idiots.

Hand on the door knob, it flew open to Iruka and he smiled when he saw who it is.

"Ah, Roxanne, can I speak with you for a moment out here, boys you can go in, we'll be right in"

Before they could answer, I shoved all of them through the door and closed it. Turning to Iruka with a smile, he scratched his head at the display but shook it off instead.

"I just wanted to ask if you are well, Roxanne"

"Right as rain Iruka-sensei"

"Great, are you well enough to do the demonstration we talked about a couple weeks ago?"

And that had slipped my mind during my recovery and training.

"Well enough to do anything Iruka-sensei, when?"

"Today, if it's alright with you?" I nodded and he smile with approval as he open the door.

Walking up the steps, I slipped in my chair and felt a tug on both sides.

"What did Iruka wanted?" Naruto

"Did you get in trouble or what?" Kiba

"You'll see" I said with a smirk and said nothing more.

"Attention class, I have a special treat for you today. Well actually Roxanne does" At the confused looks of the class, Iruka continued on.

"Some time ago, I asked Roxanne if she could show us a demonstration of the fighting skills she has learned from around and Today is the day. So could you all please head out to the training area and we shall begin" Iruka waved everyone over as he open the door.

"Holy shit, are you for real, Roxanne?" Kiba ask with excitement as I nodded and he whooped.

We followed everyone out but I lingered back because Naruto is in a state of thinking. I nudged him for attention.

"What's got you all quiet, Naruto?" He looked my way for a second and then looked ahead.

"It's going to be awesome, ain't it?" He asked with a bland tone and I raised an eyebrow at that but nodded nonetheless.

"Then it's alright" His tone and expression changed as quickly as the weather and so just dropped the subject as we came out to the light of the outside sun.

This will definitely be an Awesome afternoon.

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The class stood to the side as Roxanne walked over to the platform like area where the sparring is supposed to be and started stretching.

"So I just, what, demonstrate any fighting techniques or what?" She asked Iruka, whom is standing next to a pole near the class.

"Yep, just whatever you can show, show it and that's be all" Corner of his eye, Iruka notices Naruto stepping closer and leaned against the pole, with his arms crossed over his chest and a blank face.

"Alright then" Roxanne replied and did a quick hand sign, a puff of smoke and a clone stood by her.

"Stretch" she told the clone and continued on.

The class sat on the ground and waited, the boys, Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji and Sasuke sat together in the front but Naruto stood, waiting.

Finally, after a couple minutes of stretching, the fight began with Roxanne getting in a fighting stance as well as the clone. A smirk is the only warning before they clashed and the force of it nearly knocked the class over.

"Whoa" came from Kiba as he shields his eyes from the oncoming gust of wind.

Jumping back, Roxanne spun a kick to the clone's head and it dodge that as it swept its legs underneath her but she flipped and threw a punch to its head. A crash like vibration came instead when the clone blocked and pushed forward, pushing both backwards. Landing on her feet, she pushed ahead again and this time both the clone and Roxanne are trading blows after blows at one another.

Uppercut, punch, punch, block, kick, block, kick, spin kick, block, dodge, dodge and a punch from both send them to the opposite direction as they breathe deeply and stopped.

"Not bad for a warm up" Said Roxanne as she wiggled out the tension.

"What!"

"What did she say?"

"That's a warm-up?" Shika asked and everyone looked at Naruto for confirmation but he just stood, smirking.

"Naruto, what do you know?" Sasuke asked and Naruto chuckled.

"Watch and learn, Uchiha and don't take your eyes off her for one second" is all he said before another force almost knocked them all over and they all watched in silence and awe.

The clash just so happened to be the clash of fist hitting each other and then Roxanne phased out and reappeared behind the clone with a swift kick to the head had it flying to the ground. Not a second later, the clone phased out and reappeared above Roxanne as they fell to the ground, with the clone on top. Bringing its fist down hard, it met with dirt instead and felt a powerful kick to its side that had it hurling far away. Jumping to its feet quickly, it met with Roxanne in the middle and they fought with punches and kicks in all direction.

To any on lookers, the class, it all looks like a movie with fast forwarding but everything is seen with both awe and caution, and the looks on the two fighters had shivers coming down their backs: the looks of feral glee.

A punch from the clone had enough energy to knock out any unsuspecting being for many hours, but with Roxanne it was just a slap. Her head turn from the attack, she spun and kicked with equal force and it would have broken the vertebrates of a spine but the clone took it like a kick of a toddler.

The clone flew backwards but then got its footing and rushed at Roxanne, whom composed herself in to a defensive stance. The clone jumped gracefully in to the air and flew straight at Roxanne with speed. Its right fist was already drawn back in anticipation of the hit it is going to deliver. Roxanne raised her hands, crossed in front of her face to block the punch when it landed and then in that split second of impact, she gripped onto the clones' wrist in one hand and used her free hand to grasp the back of its neck in a submissive hold.

Before Roxanne could lock the clones' legs with hers, it brought both legs up to her chest and kicked with all its might to free itself from the hold; another energy induced punch had Roxanne flying back but she flipped a couple times and landed on her feet some yards away. Roxanne took one deep breath to steady herself before launching across the space between them in an imitation of the clones' earlier attack. She landed punches and kicks, felt the clones ribs crack under the pressure of Roxanne's boots, a fist landed on its face and it darken to a bruise.

Despite her onslaught of attacks, the clone managed to land a few of its own hits and she felt that with pleasure. A fist to the abdomen, a foot to her left side and an elbow to her head.

Throughout all this display of combat skills, they did not notice the reactions of the class.

Jaws unhinged, eyes open wide, shivers and gasps.

Kiba, Shika, and Sasuke had all these on their faces and they all turned to Naruto who is watching with awe and one word is all he said.

"Beautiful" The boy's eyes widen and looked back to the fight but with the expression of complete understanding of Naruto's one word.

Jumping apart, the two ladies pulled out their kunai and started slashing at one another. No blood was spilt but it is getting close to it.

Up down, side to side, and slashing forwards and any other ways.

Until

Roxanne caught the clone's hand that held the knife with her free hand as she turned with the hand to be draped around her shoulder and the kunai is moving fast to the clones' stomach.

"STOP!" and silence ensued as both the fighters looked towards Iruka with confusion to their abrupt end of their fight. Iruka clear his throat but is also looking scared.

"That-that's enough, for today ladies. Well done" Iruka breathe easily when the two let go of each other and started dusting the other off with smiles.

"Great fight, Roxanne" The clones praised as it sheaths its kunai.

"You too, Roxanne" Roxanne answered back with equal enthusiasm.

Both had smile of satisfied relief and walked back to the group. Naruto is the first to greet them.

**(Roxanne's POV)**

"That was AWESOME! Who knew anyone to move like you two did?"

"Indeed, that was some…thing you both did there" Iruka said as he came over.

"What about the other guys?" I thumbed to the guys who are unmoving as the rest of the class.

"They'll snap out of it soon enough. You aren't hurt are you because that was some intense fighting" Rolling my shoulder, I shook my head and rolled the other.

"Are you sure, Roxanne, you can see the nurse if you like" A small laugh escaped from me.

"Nah, Iruka-Sensei, I'm cool. Nothing but a good bath will make it alright"

"Intense fighting like that, you should of broken something, Roxanne but you're moving ok" Came Sasuke's voice and we three turned to see the guys standing by. Waving my hand, I replied

"When you live your life for fighting, hardly nothing breaks as much as it's supposed to, Sasuke and with the training I've been doing my whole life, I doubt nothing will" That got a quiet response but only for a moment and then everyone came over to praise the show they had witness.

I felt great and the proud aura emitting from my sides, I knew Naruto is very proud and that is all I needed or will ever need.

**Thanks for any or all reviews I got, much esteemed **

**Review and/or Comments are appreciated**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimers:** I own nothing except my OC

**AN: **I'm thinking weekly, I'll post new chapters….hmmm that just might work. Enjoy!

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**A day with a girl and Evening with the boys**

"It that how hard you train every day, Roxanne" Ask Sasuke when school let out and the 6 of us were walking away. Waving to the girls as they went in the opposite direction, I slipped my hands in my pocket and thought about Sasuke's question. Naruto answered instead.

"Usually, yes she does. The mornings, we just do a bit of exercise and jogging but after school until the sun goes down, we train the way she just showed us today and that was awesome" I smiled at that.

"You train with her? I thought you guys trained separately last time I checked on you" That had the guys turning to him except for Naruto and me.

"You were spying on them?" Shika ask with a quirked brow

"Well…not spying per say…just checking" I laughed and that got the attention to me as Naruto blushed.

"Remember when I mention some time ago that Sasuke jump Naruto's bones" and a wave of my hand, I let the comment linger until they got it.

"What, I didn't jump his bones" Sasuke defended

"He didn't jump any bones" Naruto helped

"Ah, Yes he was going to, Literally, until I stopped it and so in a way, Sasuke really wanted to"

BLUSH! From both boys as they began sputtering but were ignored as they both were pushed away by both Shika and Kiba from me and they both leaned in more for more info.

"So you're saying if you weren't around to stop it, Sasuke would of, you know" Kiba wiggled his eyebrows.

"Damn right, they would of and I would have had an eye full of the many positions they would

be thinking of" Chuckling as evilly as I can to get a good reaction.

"Oooh" came from both boys and yelling came from the other two.

"Wait a damn minute; I would have knocked his lights out if he even tried that shit on me" Naruto defended

"And I wouldn't think of trying, I just wanted to know where Roxanne was at that time" Sasuke tried to help

"Right" came from the rest of us and we started laughing.

After a good 5 minutes, we calmed down and I held back to slung an arm around Naruto's shoulders and pinched his cheeks.

"Just fun and laughter, Naruto, no harm done, ok" He stiffens at first but then relaxed and gave me one of his beaming smiles.

"Right, Sasuke" I clapped him on the back and he glared are first but then that soften and a small smile came out.

"Well that was fun and all but Choji and I are gonna head this way" He points to the same hill for their cloud grazing and we nodded.

"Later Shioji" And that had them all stop mid-step.

"What did you just call me?" Shika ask with a twitch

"Not just you, you and Choji. Shikamaru and Choji mixed together is Shioji" Shrugging at it like it's a common thing; I didn't see a small glint in the eyes of the brainiac.

"So what does that make you and Naruto: Naruann?"

"Naruanne, Roxruto, Roxnar, Roruto, you pick" and I got a surprise look from all the guys.

"You've thought about it?" Kiba asks with interest

"Sure, why not?" I shrugged and continued on walking, leaving the guys standing in my wake as I waved bye to Shioji

When rounding the corner, I decided on taking a stroll through the market place and pick up a few things for dinner tonight. Walking around in a grocer in the product isle, I distinctly heard a howl and knew that Kiba is running home. Not bothering with wondering where the other guys are, I kept on my shopping and laughed at the kids running around the place with their parents chasing after them to behave.

Besides the background noise of shopping, it felt nice to have time to just myself and me.

Paying for and bagging my purchase, I walked out and just took a stroll through the afternoon crowd. Looking around to see if I see any spiky hair that comes in black or blonde and not seeing any, I kept strolling along.

"Roxanne, hey" Ino? Turning and indeed I see Ino calling me from the entrance of a building by a glass door and so I walked over.

"Hey Ino, what are you doing here?"

"I work here, it's my parents shop" Looking in I see that it is a florist shop with all the many colors and shapes of flowers.

"What are you doing, where's Naruto and Sasuke?" Looking to her right and left but sees nobody by that name.

"Truthfully, I have no idea, I think they lost me some where" Her chest fallen expression came and went as she smiles at me.

"Well then, why don't you come in and hang out, not much customers today and my parents are out" I nodded and thanked her while walking into the establishment and the many smells assaulted my senses. I sigh at this and Ino just laughed lightly.

"Want to have some tea and then we can play a game of cards"

"Sure, but what about my groceries" Finally looking down, Ino thought a minute before holding her hands out.

"I'll stash them in the fridge while you're here, should be cool enough for it" Nodding and handing them over, she went to the back and asked to watch the front while she makes tea. Strange

Looking around at all the flowers and flower arrangements and other things flowery, I took a deep breath and sighed once more at the multi scents.

Ino then came out and back in the back and out again, bringing out another stool, a deck of cards and napkins.

"I hope you like cookies" I hear from the back "My mom makes the best oatmeal cookies in the village" Interest is peaked as I turned to see Ino coming back out with a tray full of cups, tea pot and a plate of said cookies. Setting them down on the counter next to the cash register, she gestured for me to join her and so I did.

"Are you training at all, Ino?" Taking a sip and picking up a cookie, I took a bite and all time stopped as I tasted the oatmeal cookie. Explaining it would dampen the exquisite taste that is bombarding my taste buds and instead I hummed, not paying attention to what Ino is saying.

"Holy shit Ino, is your mom a god or something because these cookies are heavenly" A squeak is my response and I turned to Ino but instead saw her mother standing beside her. Stunned, with a cookie in my mouth as I looked on with wide eyes but she just had a huge smile in place with her hand clasped over her chest.

"Really, you think so?" She asks and all I could is nod numbly, trying to get out of my stupor.

"Oh, Ino, I like her" Another blinding smile and left to the back is when I got my voice back.

"Holy shit, you could of told me she was right beside you" Sipping my tea slowly, Ino burst out laughing beside me and looking at her, I silently asked 'What?'

"I did tell you but then your eyes were glazed over like you were in lala land so didn't hear me. I think it was right after you hummed blissfully" 'Blissfully' and now I'm blushing with a hand to my forehead. A pat on my shoulder and Ino spoke:

"You had just made her day, Roxanne; I don't think I've heard anyone call her cookies heavenly. I bet anything that she's in there right now, making and baking a batch just for you" Right after she said that I could hear the sounds of said making and baking. That had me smiling again, forgetting about the embarrassing slip.

"So, anyways, training?" And that, peoples, got Ino going on and on about trying to train with Sakura but she's 'too busy' with her parents and whatnots, so instead Ino persuaded her father to train with her. Soonish, during our sipping, munching and chatting, I smelt the aroma of baked cookies.

Hmmm. Heavenly cookies and Ino laughed at me again.

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Not long later, I had to get going if I wanted to make dinner and so Ino went to the fridge to grab my grocery bags and came back out, with her mom in tow and with a large wrapped container of freshly baked cookies.

"Come back again soon, I do love to meet Ino's friends" Nodding and thanking her, said my good byes and left with a wave.

Looking up over the horizon, the sun is starting to set and thought that it's amazing how today I just didn't train and that I didn't see hide or hair of either Naruto or Sasuke. Shrugging my wonder, I left with a hum back to the apartment and enjoying the warm air the soon to be evening is bringing.

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Walking up the steps quietly of the apartment building, I stopped on the floor below mine and listen intently for any sounds.

Mumbling

Mumbling and then silence

Started walking up again, I went quietly as I could and when I reached the top step, I peaked.

Naruto and Sasuke; sitting cross legged by my door, chatting about this and that.

Smiling, scoffing and shaking my head, I revealed myself and walked over to them.

"Roxanne" they both said as they stood up "Where you been?" Naruto ask.

Holding up my grocery bag, Sasuke took it from me but I kept my container of cookies. Unlocking my door, I let them in and both the boys went about putting things away while I dropped my container on the table and went to the bathroom to wash up.

"Want us to make dinner?" I heard from Naruto "If you want" I answered back while drying my face. Coming back to the main room, I sat by the table as I watched the scene unfold.

Naruto and Sasuke cutting up meat and veggies, then Naruto cooking up the meat while Sasuke made juice and filling a cup for me, then started on boiling both veggies and rice. It's like they are in synced with each other, never bumping or crossing one another and when the food is almost done, Naruto let Sasuke stand beside him as he tossed in the drained veggies in with the meat. Letting it sizzle for a bit, they both grabbed plates, cups and utensils, simultaneously placed them in three places on the table.

Amazing is a word that would dampen the sight I am seeing and so I will go with remarkable.

When the food is cooked and Naruto shut off the heat and came over to the table to portion out the meat and veggies to three plates. Sasuke then brought the rice over in a bowl and placed it in the middle of the table, while Naruto brought over the pitcher of juice and both sat at the same time.

I just had to applaud them in their fantastic performance. Laughing as I clapped they both looked at me like I just grew a second head but I didn't mind.

"Who knew you two were so in sync with each other"

"What you mean: in sync?" Sasuke asked but I cut if off.

"I wonder what it would look like when the two of you fight, I bet it'll be spectacular" Ignoring the question and picking up my napkin, I scooped up a spoonful of rice on to my plate and just smiled at the guys as they looked at me funny.

"Eat, you made this, might as well try it" That got the looks to go away and they started eating.

"So, Roxanne, what happen after you left us" trying to sound aloof but it sounded more hurt then it did.

"I didn't left, you didn't catch up, there's a difference. Anyways, I went grocery shopping, didn't see either of yous and got stopped my Ino. So I spend some time with her while she worked at her parents shop"

"We couldn't find you"

"I know. Felt nice to have time with just me and mine. Besides I got something out of it" That got attentions peaked but I shook my head.

"After dinner is done and the kitchen is wiped clean" Nodding to my direction, the boys told me on what happen after I had gone. Shika disregarded my comment and both he and Choji took off. Kiba walked with the two just for a few minutes before the howl and he too took off. Sasuke pointed out that he heard nothing and that got Naruto and I sharing a look. After that they spent about an hour looking for me but thought it best to wait it out by my door.

"We didn't train today, why we didn't train today, Roxanne" Naruto said in a sort of whining tone. I was about to answer but Sasuke beat me to it.

"Because she already trained today" Quirked an eyebrow in his direction while Naruto looked confused.

"She did a demonstration today and as amazing as it was, I think that was good enough"

I laughed and clapped him on the shoulders.

"Look at the head on this one, took the words right out of me" We shared a laugh and continued eating.

When dinner is done and plates are cleaned of food, both boys told me to just sit while they started cleaning up and once again I am astounded with the dance they are doing. Naruto washing as Sasuke dries and puts the dishes away. Wiping down the counters and oven should have been a simple task but they made everything they did together look like a ballet performance. With Naruto wiping once side and throwing the dish cloth to Sasuke as he wiped the oven and then tossing it into the sink, while Naruto drained the water and wiped the sink. Sasuke then refilled all out glass and when the performance is done is when I started clapping again. They looked at me when they sat back down with confusion again and again I laughed.

"I so have to see you two training together, it'll be like art in motion" Getting up, I went to the room and grabbed a deck of cards. Shuffling out the cards, I remembered the container and so handed the cards to Sasuke while I unwrapped and open the container. Holding out the container, both Sasuke and Naruto took a piece and bit into it.

What I saw made me remember what Ino said: 'your eyes looked glazed over as if you were in lala land'.

That is exactly what I see now: Both of them looked dazed and soon enough, both of them hummed. Smiling I picked up a cookie and ate it while humming with approval. Having eaten two more is when they finally got out of their daze and grabbed two more each.

"That is amazing, Roxanne, where you get it?" Talking with a mouth full of cookies, Naruto ask me as I closed the container and got up to put it away in my fridge.

"Ino's mom made them for me when I accidently commented that her cookies were heavenly. It seems she like my comment so much, she made me a fresh batch" Siting back down, I grabbed the forgotten cards and started shuffling again.

"Heavenly is the perfect word I'd used if it were me" Sasuke says before popping a cooking in his mouth and again both he a Naruto hummed with appreciation. I smiled at their bliss and deal the cards.

We played until it is time for them to leave and I bid them goodnight. Slipping into my pjs, brushing both my hair and teeth, I open my window just a crack before crawling into bed and I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow, with dreams of dancing and cookies through the night.

**Thanks from any or all reviews I got **

**Review and/or comments are much Appreciated**


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